gHacks technology news » windows-vista

DirectX 11 For Windows Vista Released

Martin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:45:04 +0000

Unlike Microsoft’s previous try to make Windows Vista more attractive to gamers by bundling DirectX 10 exclusively with the operating system the company from Redmond decided that it was time to change strategy and offer DirectX 11 for both Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Many users believe that the exclusivity of DirectX 10, which locked out the majority of gamers, was the main reason that gaming companies did not take advantage of the new options and features offered by DirectX 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.

Tags: directx 11, windows 7, windows-update, windows-vista

Endless Reboot Vista To Windows 7 Upgrade Problems

Martin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:55:05 +0000

Reports about upgrade problems from Windows Vista to Windows 7 began to appear on Friday on several forums and support websites. Users who experienced these difficulties mentioned an endless reboot cycle after a failed Windows Vista to Windows 7 upgrade. The users received the message ““This version of Windows could not be installed, Your previous version of Windows has been restored, and you can continue to use it” during the upgrade process. The next reboot of the system however launched the upgrade again and not the Windows Vista operating system. A Microsoft Knowledgebase entry gives further details and a fix for the endless reboot issue (but not the failed upgrade).

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)

Tags: endless reboot, windows 7, windows upgrade, windows-vista

Set Different Screen Resolutions For Every User

Martin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:43:37 +0000

One of the biggest flaws of the Windows operating system becomes apparent in multi-user systems. Neither Windows XP nor Windows Vista offer individual screen resolutions for their user accounts. This means that a change to the screen resolution has global impact in the operating system. Each user account will experience the same display screen resolution.

Carroll is a small software program that offers a solution to this problem. The software is installed for all users allowing each to set their own screen resolution in the operating system. The computer program will display a list of available screen resolutions to the user upon startup. Selecting a screen resolution and clicking on the link “Change screen resolution and restore with every logon” will assign that screen resolution to the user. This will also be the screen resolution of all other users unless they specify a different screen resolution in the program.

This can be easily done as Carroll is installed for all users. Carroll needs to be autostarted with Windows if a custom screen resolution has been specified by a user. It will basically switch to the custom screen resolution upon startup.

Carroll is a small Windows software program that is available at the developer’s website.

Tags: carroll, custom screen resolution, screen resolutions, user accounts, windows software, windows-vista, windows-xp

Windows Live Movie Maker Updated

Martin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:07:34 +0000

Microsoft has released an update to Windows Live Movie Maker, the first application of the popular and free Windows Live Essentials program suite designed for Microsoft’s upcoming operating system Windows 7. Compatibility with older Microsoft operating systems, namely Windows XP and Windows Vista, is still on board although Windows Live Movie Maker is not offered when installing Windows Live Essentials on computer systems running Windows XP.

The updated Windows Live Movie Maker is part of Windows Live Essentials and can therefor be downloaded by downloading the Windows Live Essentials installer from the Microsoft website. Microsoft’s main focus was to make the Windows Live Movie Maker as easy to use as possible. One of the project manager demonstrates that it is possible to create a movie that includes photos, video clips and a sound track in less than 30 seconds.

Microsoft has added new features to polish movies that are created in Windows Live Movie Maker. This includes more transitions, effects and video editing features. A total of 60 transitions, 18 pan and zoom options and 20 visual effects are available in the latest version. Video sharing and has also been made easier. The new version of Windows Live Movie Maker features an import to Youtube link right in the main menu. It is also possible to publish to Facebook and Microsoft promises to add other popular services later on as plugins.

Videos can also be burned directly to DVD or saved in high definition format to be played on computer systems and high definition TVs or low definition formats for mobile devices and email. Windows 7 users do get some extra features like increased capabilities for creating HD movies and additional file format support.

Windows Live Movie Maker offers an easy way to create movies in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

The reason why Windows Live Movie Maker is not available for Windows XP:

You’d like to use Windows Live Movie Maker on Windows XP. Given the technical requirements, unfortunately we won’t be able to support Windows XP at this time. But Windows Movie Maker 2.1 for Windows XP is still a great option if you’re still using Windows XP. As we mentioned in our initial post about Windows Live Movie Maker last October, we’ve built a new engine for Movie Maker that makes use of some of the latest and greatest technologies available on the Windows platform. Introduced in Windows Vista (and supported in Windows 7) is a new graphics driver model, which brings more reliable and stable support for high-end graphics. We’ve also built our new engine on top of DirectX, which improves speed and enables even more advanced capabilities over time. Finally, we’ve also built Windows Live Movie Maker on top of the new Windows 7 Scenic platform (and have brought it to Windows Vista as well) which makes our new user interface possible.

Tags: movie maker, windows 7, windows live, windows live essentials, Windows Live movie maker, windows-vista

Windows 7 OEM Activation Crack Already In The Wild

Martin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:08:43 +0000

Did anyone really think that this would not happen eventually? That was my first though when I read the news that a Windows 7 OEM activation crack – or patch, does not really matter how you call it – was already available in various P2P networks and other sources.

The crack turns the Windows 7 RTM into a fully activated Windows 7 operating system that is passing all Microsoft genuine advantage checks with flying colors. Softpedia reports that the leaked Windows 7 key came from OEM manufacturers Lenovo and was first spread on a Chinese forum. The OEM activation crack makes it possible to turn both Windows 7 Ultimate versions, that is 32-bit and 64-bit, into a fully activated Windows 7 operating system.

The bypass designed for Windows 7 RTM involves abusing OEM activation 2.1, and in this regard the circumventing process is nothing more than an OEM hack. Via OEM activation 2.1, namely SLP 2.1, Microsoft allows OEMs to pre-activate Windows 7 for distribution preinstalled on new computers. In this context, the activation bypass process leading to the hacked Windows 7 RTM needs to be based on a BIOS (SLIC) hack first of all.

It seems therefor that Windows 7 is simply following in the footsteps of previously released and cracked Microsoft operating systems like Windows XP or Windows Vista.

Tags: windows 7, windows 7 crack, windows 7 oem, windows 7 patch, windows-vista, windows-xp

View Photoshop PSD thumbnails in Vista and Windows 7 Explorer

Martin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:55:31 +0000

Windows Vista introduced a new imaging stack, called Windows Imaging Component (WIC), and uses it in Windows Explorer to create thumbnails for most image file formats. 3rd parties can write their own WIC codec to support proprietary image formats such as Nikon NEF or Canon CR2 raw files and Windows Explorer is able to show thumbnails for those files when the corresponding codec is installed. Microsoft maintain a page containing links to existing codecs.

Sadly, there is no publicly available codec for the Photoshop PSD format but the newly released Microsoft Expression Blend 3 design tool (which, by the way, is nothing short of amazing for WPF and Silverlight design) includes such a codec so installing Blend 3 automatically installs the PSD codec. For those who don’t have a need for Blend and don’t want to install it, here is a little hacking guide to extract the codec (a 256KB dll) and use it separately:

Get the codec and its dependencies:

Link

7-Zip

Link

Codec installation:

Install the VC++ Runtime by running vcredist_x86.exe from step (3) above.

Copy PSDCodec.dll from step (2) to some location on the harddisk, e.g. “C:\Program Files\PSDCodec”

Register the codec from an administrator’s command prompt by running the following command: regsvr32 “C:\Program Files\PSDCodec\PSDCodec.dll”

That’s it, Windows Vista Explorer should soon begin to display thumbnails for all PSD files that were saved from Photoshop with the “Maximum Compatibility” option. As a side effect, WIC-aware image viewers such as FastPictureViewer Professional (http://www.fastpictureviewer.com) automatically benefit from the codec installation and uses it to open and display the same PSD files with full fidelity.

Tags: adobe photoshop, image thumbnails, photoshop, photoshop psd, psd, psd thumbnails, thumbnails, windows 7, windows-explorer, windows-vista

Extend Windows Vista Laptop Battery Life With Aerofoil

Martin — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:50:14 +0000

It is a well known fact that it is possible to extend the battery life of laptops by turning off features that are not needed. This can be hardware devices like modems, bluetooth and wifi. We have covered applications like Vista Battery Saver before which turn of software components in Vista as well which can not only increase the battery life of the battery but also speed up Vista. Aerofoil is another program that can help extend Windows Vista laptop battery life by turning off Windows Aero and the Windows Sidebar.

Aerofoil does not rely on the Microsoft .net Framework on the other hand which is probably the most important factor. The computer memory footprint of Aerofoil is therefor much smaller than that of the other program.

The program can be selected to run at startup. It will place a icon in the system tray which can be used to quickly access the available options seen above. It is probably a good idea to have this or any of the other tools running on Vista laptops that run on battery.

Tags: aerofoil, battery life, extend battery, vista laptop, vista-software, windows software, windows-vista

5 Reasons Why You Might Want To Switch From XP To Windows 7

Martin — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:12:18 +0000

Windows XP is an excellent operating system. The majority of Windows users are still running Windows XP followed by Windows Vista and other variants. XP is leading the field by a ratio of 3:1 according to statistics gathered on w3schools (the operating system gets transmitted usually when a user opens a website). That alone is reason enough to define Windows Vista as a failure; Or Windows XP excellent and Windows Vista not convincing enough for the majority of Windows users to make the switch. Enter Windows 7. Windows 7 will be released this year. The last information suggest a release in October 09. Windows XP users once again have to make the decision if they want to make the switch or stick with their operating system.

The following paragraphs list five reasons why Windows XP users might want to make the switch to Windows 7. To be perfectly clear: It is without doubt possible to use Windows XP as the main operating system in the coming five or ten years. A friend of mine was still running Windows 98 when Windows Vista came out. The main question however is if the majority will make the switch. Will Microsoft’s new operating system Windows 7 convince users to make the switch?

1. Security

The introduction of UAC and several other security components in Windows Vista was probably one of the most annoying experiences for users who switched from XP to Vista. While it did increase the security of the computer system it annoyed users to now end to see UAC prompts all the time. Windows 7 will still use UAC but with a reduced number of user prompts. A convincing reason why UAC is good are the monthly security patches and classifications that Microsoft releases. Many vulnerabilities are classified as critical for Windows XP systems but only as important on Vista systems.

It is quite possible to pimp Windows XP with third party applications to reach the same, or even a better level of security, than Windows 7 will provide out of the box but installing those solutions is usually left to computer geeks and those with the know how to do so. The average user installs a security software and that’s usually it. Microsoft will supply Windows XP users with security patches until 2014 with a likely scenario that support gets extended a few years after that.

2. Hardware Compatibility

There are not many differences in hardware support between Windows XP and Windows Vista. The only notable difference that might affect users in the future is the support of Direct X 10 in Windows Vista while Windows XP users have only access to Direct X 9. While this is not a huge problem at the time being thanks to both game developers and hardware manufacturers it could become a issue in the coming years.

Direct X 10 compatible hardware was scarce when Direct X 10 came out. Even scarcer were the games that supported the new standard. This was largely because game developers did not want to spend resources in both Direct X 9 and 10 development and because video cards that were able to deliver good framerates were practically not available. Windows 7 will ship with Direct X 11 which again will not be available for Windows XP users. It is likely that the release of Windows 7 will see a critical mass shifting to Direct X 10 and 11 compatible gaming which might leave Windows XP gamers behind. They probably can play the games but will face a different game experience.

Other new hardware standards and devices might not work with Windows XP in the future. Hardware developers will eventually stop producing drivers for Windows XP. While this surely will not happen in the next two years it is likely that this is going to happen eventually.

3. Design

Many users don’t like the default themes and designs of Windows XP. Microsoft did not exactly deliver a great variety of themes and customizability options in Windows XP. A handful of official themes deliver over the period of years is nothing that they should brag about. The users once again created a thriving scene of theme developers and operating system modifiers. This again was something for the hardcore users who knew how to patch system files to use different themes and such.

Windows 7 will come with a never seen before customizability. It will ship with regional themes, dozens of wallpapers, sound schemes and other interface elements. Users can create their own themes easily and even save the themes to share it with friends and the global community.

The Windows 7 design looks more eye pleasing and 21st century like than that of Windows XP. At least for most users who are asked the question.

4. Speed and Performance

Windows 7 will beat Windows XP performance wise. It will boot faster, use less system resources like cpu and computer memory while running and add better performance for SSD devices which will become a huge part of the storage device market in the coming years. It beats Windows XP (and Windows Vista if that matters) fair and square in all performance related benchmarks.

5. New And Overhauled Features

Windows 7 adds several new features to the table. Some are not really aimed at a mass market like the multi-touch support, biometric devices or handwriting recognition. Several key elements have been overhauled, most notably probably the Windows taskbar which integrates many interesting new features. Many of the features that have been added make Windows 7 more attractive. Think of included system codecs to play divx movies or DVDs without the need for third party applications.

The Verdict:

It is likely that the majority of Windows XP users will make the switch from their operating systems in the first two years after the release of Windows 7. It is without doubt possible to run Windows XP for the next five years without major problems but it will mean making sacrifices in the end when hardware and software support exclude the operating system more frequently. One thing seems to be clear at this point: Windows 7 will not be another Windows Vista. It already receives more praise from beta and release candidate testers and feels much like the operating system that Windows Vista should have been.

Tags: microsoft, operating system, Windows, windows 7, windows-vista, windows-xp

Do you use your OEM operating system?

Daniel Pataki — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:18:08 +0000

I just got my hands on a new Sony Vaio FW, and I’m really interested to know how you guys use the operating system on your laptop. My old one had XP installed, which I threw away, downloaded a fresh copy, and used my serial on that without any problems, and as long as I use the same OS version, I believe that this is completely legal.

However, my new laptop has Vista, of which I downloaded a copy, installed it, and found that my key doesn’t work. While the label on my old laptop just says Windows XP, this one says Windows Vista Home Premium OEMact, so I guess this is the problem. The first question here is, does any of you know how to legally get a working version of Vista which is not full of unneeded things?

The second questions is, do you guys use the OS installs provided by the laptop maker? I find that there is a lot of ‘everythingware” in these systems from tiny vendor specific utilities, to large pre-installed vendor stuff, trial apps like virus scanners, Office products, and just boatloads of stuff I will never-ever need. For basic users, or for people who just don’t care this may be ok, what do you think, do you use your pre-installed OS?

Tags: laptop, oem, operating system, sony vaio, Windows, windows-vista, windows-xp

Internet Explorer 8 And 64-bit Windows Fixes

Martin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:43:41 +0000

Microsoft’s new web browser Internet Explorer 8 has been released about two weeks ago and received more praise than criticism since then. Two non security related fixes were released today by Microsoft for Internet Explorer 8. The first fix deals with a problem encountered when running the web browser in the 64-bit edition of Windows Vista. A system administrator that wants to prevent users from working with Internet Explorer 8 can clear the “Enable access to this program” check box in the “Set Program Access and Computer Defaults”. This should disable access to Internet Explorer on the computer system.

While this works as intended in the 32-bit edition of Windows Vista it does not in the 64-bit edition as it is still possible for users to access Internet Explorer from the Windows start menu. The hotfix corrects the issue so that the function is working as intended on 64-bit editions of Windows Vista as well.

The second problem affects the 64-bit editions of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. Microsoft describes the problem the following way:

The Image Delivery server that runs the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008 or of Windows Server 2003 stops delivering images when you deploy an operating system by using an image-based installation method

The hotfix can also be downloaded directly by visiting the Microsoft Knowledge Base article.

Tags: ie8, internet explorer 8, internet explorer fix, internet explorer patch, microsoft, microsoft hotfix, windows hotfixes, windows patch, windows server 2003, windows server 2008, windows-vista

Enable Bitlocker On Unsupported Hardware

Martin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:19:38 +0000

Bitlocker is an additional software component that gets distributed with Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate and Enterprise only. It can be used to encrypt full partitions on computer systems but can only be run on supported hardware. Bitlocker by default does require a Trusted Platform Module chip (TPM Chip) that is located on the computer’s motherboard. This chip contains a cryptographic key that Bitlocker uses in the encryption process.

There is however a way to enable Bitlocker encryption even if the computer does not have a TPM chip. The following method will enable Bitlocker and should work in the upcoming Microsoft operating system Windows 7 as well.

Run [gpedit.msc] by either clicking on the Windows Vista Start Menu button or by using the shortcut [Windows R]. This will open the Group Policy Editor.
Locate the following menu: Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\BitLocker Drive Encryption
Enable the Advanced Startup Options by double-clicking on Control Panel Setup to display the advanced options.
Click on Enabled and check the Allow Bitlocker Without A Compatible TPM Checkbox.

A click on OK will enable Bitlocker on computer systems without Trusted Platform Module chips. It is from then on possible to save the Bitlocker encryption key on an external storage device like an USB stick or Flash memory card. This key is essential for accessing the encrypted partitions. There is no way of accessing the encrypted partition or hard drive if the storage device gets damaged or lost.

Tags: bitlocker, enable bitlocker, gpedit.msc, tpm, trusted platform module, vista bitlocker, windows 7 bitlocker, windows vista enterprise, windows vista ultimate, windows-vista

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 RC Download

Martin — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:09:21 +0000

Microsoft has initially distributed the release candidates of both Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 to MSDN and Technet subscribers. Today they announced that both service pack releases are available for the general public. Everyone interested can download and install the service packs for both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. End users should keep in mind that those or not final versions but release candidate versions. It is generally not recommended to update a productive system with betas or release candidates.

Users who are interested in download Windows Vista SP2 RC or Windows Server 2008 SP2 RC can do so either at the Customer Preview Program site or by using the Windows Update Experience Kit. The difference is that users can download an iso containing the service packs if they access the Customer Preview Program while they download the service packs from Windows Update if they install the Windows Update Experience Kit.

The release candidate builds are available for all supported languages of both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 and available for both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the operating systems. Users who are interested in the release notes can take a look at the most notable changes here.

Tags: microsoft, microsoft-windows, Windows, windows server 2008, windows server 2008 sp2, windows server 2008 sp2 download, windows vista sp2, windows vista sp2 download, windows-vista

Readyboost Monitor

Martin — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:58:29 +0000

Windows Readyboost was a new feature that Microsoft introduced in Windows Vista. Readyboost basically allows a user to add flash memory to a computer system running Windows Vista to increase the performance of the system. These flash memory devices act then as additional memory cache. It should be obvious that they do not come near the performance of computer memory modules. In fact, tests have shown that Readyboost has barely any impact on performance. What it does have an impact on however is on responsiveness of resource heavy applications which might be enough to convince some users to give it a try.

The portable software Readyboost Monitor will monitor the Readyboost performance of a computer system. The main interface of the application will display information about the read and write speed, total read and write data and cached data. It will also display an activity bar that displays the Readyboost usage over time.

The minimized application will display an icon in the Windows system tray that displays the read and write speed when hoovered on. Readyboost Monitor has a size of only 56 Kilobytes. The program requires Microsoft Windows Vista and the Microsoft .net Framework 3.0.

Tags: memory software, portable software, readyboost, readyboost monitor, readyboost usb, readyboost vista, windows software, windows-vista

How To Quickly Open Folders In Windows

Martin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:58:21 +0000

Here is a quick tip on how to open specific system folders in the Microsoft operating systems Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. All you need to do is press [Windows R] and enter one command to open a specific folder. These so called shell commands will open various Windows folders but also applications and configuration tools that way. To open the Send To folder one would for example simply enter shell:sendto into the run box and hit enter. This opens the Send To menu with the option to modify its contents.

It might be easier to sometimes enter a specific command directly instead of the shell: substitute if a command for that specific function or folder exists. Make sure that there are no spaces in the command unless the name of the folder or app that should be opened contains one or multiple.

Here is a list of all possible shell: commands that should work in the mentioned operating systems:

AddNewProgramsFolder
Administrative Tools
AppData
AppUpdatesFolder
Cache
CD Burning
ChangeRemoveProgramsFolder
Common Administrative Tools
Common AppData
Common Desktop
Common Documents
Common Programs
Common Start Menu
Common Startup
Common Templates
CommonDownloads
CommonMusic
CommonPictures
CommonVideo
ConflictFolder
ConnectionsFolder
Contacts
ControlPanelFolder
Cookies
CredentialManager
CryptoKeys
CSCFolder
Default Gadgets
Desktop
Downloads
DpapiKeys
Favorites
Fonts
Gadgets
Games
GameTasks
History
InternetFolder
Links
Local AppData
LocalAppDataLow
LocalizedResourcesDir
MAPIFolder
My Music
My Pictures
My Video
MyComputerFolder
NetHood
NetworkPlacesFolder
OEM Links
Original Images
Personal
PhotoAlbums
Playlists
PrintersFolder
PrintHood
Profile
ProgramFiles
ProgramFilesCommon
ProgramFilesCommonX86
ProgramFilesX86
Programs
Public
PublicGameTasks
Quick Launch
Recent
RecycleBinFolder
ResourceDir
SampleMusic
SamplePictures
SamplePlaylists
SampleVideos
SavedGames
Searches
SendTo
Start Menu
Startup
SyncCenterFolder
SyncResultsFolder
SyncSetupFolder
System
SystemCertificates
SystemX86
Templates
TreePropertiesFolder
UserProfiles
UsersFilesFolder
Windows

Are there commands missing? Let us know.

Tags: shell commands, windows 7, windows 7 shell, windows 7 tips, windows tips, windows vista shell, windows vista tips, windows xp shell, windows xp tips, windows-vista, windows-xp

Windows Vista Taskbar Resize

Martin — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:23:40 +0000

Windows 7 changes the appearance of the taskbar quite drastically. One of the new visual changes to taskbar items is the height of each item. While it is possible to change the height of the Windows Vista taskbar it is not possible to change the height of individual items in the taskbar even after making enough room on the taskbar by resizing it.

Taskbar Resize Tool is a small program for Windows Vista that can alter the heights of individual items in the Windows Vista taskbar. The software requires the installation of the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (download) before the program can be executed. The software itself comes with a English and Chinese interface.

The software is portable and will display a slider after execution which can be used to change the height of the taskbar items.

A click on the Apply button will change the size of each item immediately. All settings will be reverted after a restart which is why the only option in the program interface is to add the application to system startup.

Tags: multi-lingual, portable software, taskbar resize, vista, vista taskbar, windows software, windows vista taskbar, windows-vista

Windows Vista Shrink Volume Problems

Martin — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:13:22 +0000

Windows Vista comes with its own partitioning software that can be used to partition the connected hard drives. It can be accessed by clicking on Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management. This opens a new window with the entry Disk Management under the storage entry in the left panel. The tool will display the available hard drives and partitions that are currently connected to Windows Vista.

A right-click on a partition and the selection of Shrink Volume will display the option to shrink the volume of the selected hard drive. It happens quite frequently that the partitioning program is offering the volume by a low amount. Some users reported that they could not shrink the partition at all even through they had lots of free Gigabytes hard drive space on the partition.

This is caused by system files that are located at the end of that Windows partition. These system files are practically blocking the ability to shrink the volume of the Windows partition beyond that point.

Below is an image of the shrink volume option on a Windows Vista notebook. The hard drive had more than 80 Gigabytes of free space but Vista offered to shrink that volume by less than 4 Gigabytes.

The only viable option is to run a hard drive defragmentation software that will move the files at the end of the partition to an earlier position. This is only possible before the operating system is loaded. One software that can do that is Perfect Disk. The software is not free but it can be used as a 30 days trial version which is sufficient for the purpose.

This can be done by clicking on the System Files button in the disk partitioning program. This will schedule the partitioning to start before the next Windows Vista start.

The effect can be seen below:

There are alternatives for the commercial software like Easeus Partition Manager or gParted

Tags: shrink volume, vista partition, vista shrink volume, vista-tips, windows tips, windows vista partition, windows-vista

Repair Defragment In Windows Vista

Martin — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:06:32 +0000

Defragment seems to make more problems in Windows Vista than it did in Windows XP. A recent test on a Toshiba notebook running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 revealed that a click on the defragment button would do nothing at all. This is apparently caused by third party disk defragmentation software programs that somehow hijack the defragmentation process.

The following article explains how to repair defragment in Windows Vista. It will also mention alternatives in case the repair does not succeed. The following error messages are symptomatic: “The Disk Defragmenter is not installed on your computer” or “Windows cannot connect to the Disk Defragmenter engine”. The suggest help topics do not help in this case.

The first thing that can be done is to register two dynamic link libraries (dlls) again. This can be done by opening a command prompt as an administrator and typing in the following commands:

regsvr32 dfrgsnap.dll regsvr32 dfrgui.dll

You might need to switch to the system32 directory first in the command line using cd /windows/system32/.

The second option is to reinstall the defragment tool completely. Locate the file dfrg.inf in the /windows/inf/ directory. Right-click it and select Install from the menu.

Alternatives To The Windows Defragmenter:

There are two possible alternatives. You can try and start the Dos defragmenter by typing in defrag.exe or install a third party disk defragmentation tool like disk defrag.

Tags: defragment, dfrg.inf, dfrgsnap.dll, dfrgui.dll, disk defrag, file defragmentation, repair windows, windows tips, windows-vista

Vista Services Optimizer

Martin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:20:05 +0000

Vista Services Optimizer is a free Windows Vista software program for computers running the Microsoft operating system. It can be used to diagnose and tune the Services configuration of the system to eliminate problems and increase overall system performance. Services Diagnostics is probably the first option that should be run after installation and start of Vista Services Optimizer. The user has check or uncheck several information about his computer system, among them if he is using a printer, a scanner, digital camera or if the computer is connected to a network or Internet connection. The eight choices will aid the diagnostic tool in determining if the current settings of the computer system can be optimized.

The test won’t take longer than a few seconds and a page with results will be displayed in the end. The services optimizer will display its findings and suggest possible fixes for problems that have been found. The diagnostic results can be saved and exported to various formats and there are also links to the automatic and manual TuneUp parts of the software.

Similar questions have to be answered before starting the automatic tuneup process. A few new options are added including the one to choose between standard and maximum service optimization. The optimization ends with the click on the Apply Changes button. The program requires a restart of the computer after applying the changes.

The differences between automatic and manual tweaking of the Windows Vista Services are the options that are presented to the user. The manual tuneup provides access to four tabs and dozens of options to check. The tabs divide the process in performance, network, security and tuneup entries.

Another option is the creation of so called service profiles which can be used to run optimized profiles in certain situations. Cautious users will be delighted to note that it is possible to restore a previous state without difficulties from within the software program.

Tags: optimize vista, optimize windows vista, Vista Services Optimizer, vista-performance, vista-services, windows services, windows software, windows vista software, windows-vista

Microsoft Vista Answers

Martin — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 10:46:52 +0000

Microsoft Vista Answers is a beta web service that copies the functionality of Yahoo Answers and makes it available to the Windows Vista niche. Narrowing down the niche does not necessarily have to be a bad thing but it could surely disappoint Windows users who do not run Windows Vista but another Microsoft product.

The web service basically works the same as Yahoo Answers. Users can post questions about Windows Vista related problems on the website. Other users will step in and answer those questions. Microsoft seems to have assigned support staff members to the website who have filled it prior to the public release with typical questions and answers. The decision has most likely been made to establish a high level of trust in the project and community. It is not self regulating like Yahoo Answers where only community members post and answer questions.

The web service makes use of a underlying forum system that divides the topics into categories like Security and Privacy, Wireless, Internet, and Networking or Gaming. The site features about 1000 threads currently with roughly 3000 posts. That’s not much but it will surely increase in the coming weeks when the service gains popularity.

The Top Answerers and the Top Microsoft Answerers are displayed in a pane on the right side. The display changes depending on the forum level. Questions that are not related to Windows Vista will be locked by the support staff.

Windows Vista users will find some valuable answers to common problems at Microsoft Vista Answers. The low volume ensures that you can get answers from quite a few Microsoft support members as well as other users of the platform in short time.

Tags: microsoft answers, Microsoft Vista Answers, vista answers, vista support, windows vista support, windows-vista, yahoo answers

Windows Vista SP2 Beta 2 Download

Martin — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:17:36 +0000

If you want to keep up with the latest beta releases of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 you might like the following. Our reader Kevin send us the new Registry keys that are needed to download the beta 2 release of the Windows Vista Service Pack 2. Yes, it is still a beta release and yes, it should be only installed on test systems and not work environments. Still, if you want to have the latest you need to do the following.

First make sure that the first beta of the Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is completely uninstalled from the computer system as the new beta cannot be installed over the old one. Once the first beta of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 has been uninstalled you can go ahead and add the following Registry keys to the Windows Registry: The easiest way to do this is to copy and paste both lines into a new text documents and rename it so that the extension changes from txt to reg.

reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSP2 /f reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSP2 /v Beta2 /t REG_SZ /d DCA54ECC-362A-4B4D-B62B-22780E839A7E /f

A double-click will execute the file and add both lines to the Windows Registry. You can try and check Windows Update right away to see if Beta 2 shows up. It might take some time and you might need to reboot the computer after applying the Registry patches before you can see the new beta release.

Tags: download vista sp2, download windows vista service pack 2, vista service pack beta, vista sp2, vista sp2 beta 2, windows vista service pack 2, windows vista sp2, windows-vista

gHacks technology news » windows-vista

DirectX 11 For Windows Vista Released

Related posts

Endless Reboot Vista To Windows 7 Upgrade Problems

Related posts

Set Different Screen Resolutions For Every User

Related posts

Windows Live Movie Maker Updated

Related posts

Windows 7 OEM Activation Crack Already In The Wild

Related posts

View Photoshop PSD thumbnails in Vista and Windows 7 Explorer

Related posts

Extend Windows Vista Laptop Battery Life With Aerofoil

Related posts

5 Reasons Why You Might Want To Switch From XP To Windows 7

Related posts

Do you use your OEM operating system?

Related posts

Internet Explorer 8 And 64-bit Windows Fixes

Related posts

Enable Bitlocker On Unsupported Hardware

Related posts

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 RC Download

Related posts

Readyboost Monitor

Related posts

How To Quickly Open Folders In Windows

Related posts

Windows Vista Taskbar Resize

Related posts

Windows Vista Shrink Volume Problems

Related posts

Repair Defragment In Windows Vista

Related posts

Vista Services Optimizer

Related posts

Microsoft Vista Answers

Related posts

Windows Vista SP2 Beta 2 Download

Related posts