Search results matching tag 'Vista'

Windows 7 has landed..

mikehall — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT

.. and is now available to the general public finally. This is the Microsoft Canada website..

http://www.microsoft.com/canada/windows/default.aspx

There is a link on the web site for the heavily discounted Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack which includes THREE upgrade licenses. If you want to upgrade your home network, now would be a very good time. The Family Pack is a limited offer, and will not be around for too long. Cost is estimated to be cdn$199.99. To buy three individual copies in Canada would cost not far short of cdn$400.

Also, take a good look at this..

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-CA/windows7/products/compare

Don’t buy a version higher than you need. No version is ‘faster’ than another. What you get in Professional and Ultimate is the ability to connect to a business domain. You can also back up to a home network, but most home networks do not generally have a machine in the network that is capable of holding multiple backups. If you don’t need these two features, Home Premium will suit you well and you will save yourself almost cdn$100.

I was a Windows 7 sceptic for a while because I was disappointed that some tried and trusty Windows features had been dropped, but I have been running Windows 7 exclusively since it first appeared on download sites available to technical guys. Normally, I would keep the previous operating system fully updated just in case of problems.

I did it with XP when making the transition to Vista, but have not given the same courtesy to Vista, and not because Vista doesn’t deserve it either. The truth is that I have had so much pleasure running the new kid on the block, and have forgotten all about my trusty Vista installation.Windows 7 really is that good.

It’s the fault of the testers..

mikehall — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Own up now please. Were you a Vista tester? If so, why didn’t you tell Microsoft about the problems? Forgotten what they were already?

UAC.. you ask nicely and are still told ‘NO’..
DRM.. Listen to music? On your own MP3 player? Hahahahaha
Calculating the time to calculate how long the transfer of a 26k Word file to a flash drive will take
Windows Explorer custom settings.. they reset back to factory each time you open Explorer
Windows Fax and Scan.. the end of twain drivers
HDD partition minimum.. 60 - 80gb? But.. but that’s the whole drive!!

There were others, and Microsoft were told about them, but there was no room for negative remarks. The people who swooned in the presence of the pretty interface and DreamScene were deemed to be considerably more positive, and they were the ones who got heard. Those of us who told Microsoft that silver surfers and the average family were not going to take kindly to some Vista features were pushed aside, notwithstanding that many of us are the people on the front lines of PC sales and repair.

Anyway, the upshot is that testers as a whole are being held partly responsible for the failure of Vista.

Has the same thing happened again with Windows 7? If I tell you that, by the time the beta was handed out to the army of testers, it was pretty much a ‘fait accomplis’, perhaps somebody could let me in on exactly what would have been a good time to tell Microsoft about the mistakes.

From the above, you would have to get the impression that ‘beta testers’ are not the fly in the ointment because a beta tester’s mandate is only to discover and report bugs. So who are these testers who let the side down?

Beta testers are all types of computer users, from Hyper-user to interested soccer/hockey mom. This group of testers has way more to offer than pure bug detection. They are perhaps the broadest range of users under one roof, with the broadest range of experience, being from all walks of computer life.

You have your downloaded .ISO file. Now what do you do?

mikehall — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Level – Beginner

First, store it somewhere safe. An external hard drive is an excellent choice. Create a folder for it and label it in a way which will remind you NOT to delete it. If you don’t have an external drive, burn it to a DVD and label it ‘name of whatever it is - Master’. Now store it somewhere very safe.

So now what?

Place a blank DVD in your DVD drive. Cancel the option window which Windows throws up.

Double click your ISO file. It should automatically start the DVD creation process of any of the big name CD/DVD burning suites.

Ensure that you set a very low burn speed. The essence is to create a reliable installation DVD, not to break burning speed records. High burning speeds are ok for small data files, but NOT Applications and operating systems.

Resist the temptation to use the computer while the burn is progressing. It doesn’t take that long, maybe a few minutes of your life.

After the process has completed and the DVD has been ejected, label the DVD clearly.

Before running your newly created DVD..

If it is an application or you are doing an in-place upgrade of your operating system, disable your anti-virus and anti-spyware solutions. Sometimes, these programs block file changes that are necessary during the installation process.

In the event that you are upgrading to Windows 7 from Vista or doing a clean install, the new operating system may not recognize the Network Interface Card if the computer is a home or custom build. Download Vista drivers from the NIC manufacturer website and burn them to a CD or there will be no connecting to the Internet to get downloads or to activate your new operating system. Better to have something to try than nothing at all.

Lastly, get yourself into a positive mood. The best laid plans can go awry, and if you are upgrading and it seems to be taking a long time, don’t panic. Depending upon how much stuff is on the computer, an upgrade generally takes at least two hours and can take as many as twenty hours to complete.

In any case, you always have your backups if anything goes wrong. You have backed your system up, haven’t you? At least your important data files?

Good luck.. Access

Windows 7 - My protest didn’t last long..

mikehall — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT

When I first downloaded the Win 7 beta, I was disappointed to find that there was no classic menu. In the forums, I made the point that it was missing and that it should be present. As the versions rolled in, there was still no sign of the classic menu, so I upped my protest, and I was not the only one.

The RC appeared and I felt sure that there would be a classic menu in there somewhere. Just like Quicklaunch, it was probably hidden, but no, it wasn’t there. It was time for a full scale mutiny and I openly declared that I would stay with Vista unless it was included in the RTM. I was always going to install Win 7 but I wasn’t going to run it fulltime. I considered that if I had a play with it now and again, I would be able to do community help for it, so nobody would lose out.

Since installing Windows 7, I have been back to Vista for only two short visits. The first visit was to collect my PST data files, the second to get credentials for the various newsgroups and forums to which I subscribe. That’s it. No updates, no maintenance, nothing. Throughout the Vista beta test, I used XP Pro, and even when I install the Vista RTM, I kept XP fully updated, even updated programs and utilities.

Apart from a sidebar gadget for which I found a replacement, I have not had any problems with Windows 7 at all. Even without the classic menu, it really is that good. I was made aware of a utility which can bring some of the classic menu functionality back, but I haven’t tried it. It looks to just bring back a look, and I can’t see anything in documentation to suggest that the results are customizable. It is here if you want to know more.

http://windows7forums.com/windows-7-desktop-customization/5369-windows-7-classic-start-menu.html

To be perfectly honest, I see no reason to spoil a fully working operating system with dubious third party stuff. I haven’t done so with any previous Windows OS, so why start now? The classic menu was important to me, but for the sake of an extra mouse click and a small amount of scrolling, it has lost its importance, and I am none the worse for it in real terms. I still use Quicklaunch, and I also have a ‘user pinned’ section on my double height task bar, so all is well wit the world and Windows 7.

For now, I will leave Vista on the computer. It is not set up as dual boot, and is doing no harm. It may also be useful if I need to refresh my memory of what Vista was and could do for the purpose of supporting it still, and I have XP running on a computer I use a spare, so I am covered well enough.

In case you didn’t know..

mikehall — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Microsoft Answers lives here..

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/categories

Windows Live, XP, Vista, 7 and Microsoft Security Essentials are covered now, and I am presuming that the list will encompass other Microsoft products before too long..

Protection contre les virus, logiciels espions et logiciels malveillants : Microsoft Security Essentials

jeanmarc — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Et voilà, MSE est disponible. Pour tous ceux qui n’aiment pas les usines à gaz…

Microsoft Security Essentials est disponible en téléchargement gratuit (WGA doit valider votre licence Windows) auprès de Microsoft. Il s'agit d'un composant simple à installer, facile à utiliser et toujours à jour pour que vous ayez la garantie que votre PC est protégé par les toutes dernières technologies. Vous pouvez facilement savoir si votre PC est sécurisé : lorsque le voyant est au vert, tout va bien. C'est aussi simple que cela.

Protection contre les virus, logiciels espions et logiciels malveillants | Microsoft Security Essentials

Tip of the Month: Hotkey for "Run as administrator" Windows Vista, 7, 2008

jeffl — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Here is an example of how to use the hotkey for Run as administrator.

Press the Windows key.
Type cmd
Press CTRL + Shift + Enter

Voila, the command prompt opens as administrator.

Jeff Loucks
Available Technology

How to avoid the snakes..

mikehall — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT

During the last week of October, there are going to be many computer users upgrading their systems. I wonder how they will all work out?

If it is buggy now..

It still will be after an ‘in place’ upgrade, so you need to do a bit of work before you start.

Back up your data or entire system. Easeus have some free utilities which you might want to consider for this job.
Run a CD lens cleaner in the optical drive that be holding the upgrade disk. The last thing you need is read errors caused by dust and dirt on the laser.
Detach all peripheral devices except for the screen, keyboard and mouse. If you have dual screens, leave them both connected. They will both display the same at first.
Ensure that your computer is as free of malware as it can possibly be. Run SuperAntispyware and Malwarebytes in regular and safe mode. Run a virus check on the C drive. Now uninstall all malware protection. You can re-install once you know that everything is alright. What you do not want is a program blocking changes which the upgrade needs to make.
Disconnect secondary hard drives

Never update BIOS during a thunderstorm..

I know you are not updating BIOS, but do you think that a power outage halfway through the upgrade is going to be any more beneficial?

Upgrades can take between two and twenty hours. If you live in an area which suffers power outages during inclement weather and you do not have a generator which automatically cuts in, check the weather for the next twenty four hours.
An Uninterruptible Power Supply can help during a switch over, but will be of no value otherwise. It simply will not last long enough to finish the job.
If you have toddlers, they can sabotage power by sneaking under the desk and pressing the colourful button on the surge protector, and if they know how to do this, they will have no problem removing the DVD from the drive. Find them something to do well away from the computer. If they are ‘grands’, hand them back to their legal owners.. :-)

Personally speaking..

I prefer a clean install on a freshly prepared hard drive.

It is way more likely to be fault free.
The original Vista or XP installation is preserved and can still be used in the event of problems, or used like a dual boot system which is useful if you have finicky software and hardware.
The old hard drive can be used for data storage if you decide to scrap the old operating system.

If you take all of the above seriously, and you should, you will be able to climb the ladder, which is much better than shedding tears while sitting on a snake’s tail.

Informations sur le déploiement de Windows 7

Mtoo — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Voici 4 documents qui présentent les différentes méthodes d’installation de Windows 7, de l’installation quasi manuelle, à celle qui sera entièrement automatisée.

Download details: Manual Installation of Windows 7 Overview:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=cd34995f-966a-4e2f-83f5-e7b570650343#tm

Download details: Upgrading to Windows 7 with a Standard Image Overview:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=6de02240-b82a-4f7a-9106-9a65d3f3e6b5#tm

Download details: Upgrading to Windows 7 for Small and Midsize Businesses:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=af70f33e-0f9f-4ab0-b473-7a5c2f54ee17#tm

Download details: Automated Installation To Upgrade Windows 7 Step-by-Step Guide:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=fc9c6191-8df9-4ab7-8ddb-c68a78be6781#tm

Bonne lecture

Laurent Gébeau (MToo)

Mots clés Technorati : mdt,mdt2010,waik,deployment,windows 7

Détails du téléchargement : Expression Encoder 3

jeanmarc — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Une appli d’édition video gratuite ? De la concurrence à WLMM ? Va falloir voir ça de plus près ! :-)

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Pour plus d'informations sur les autres nouveautés de cette version, voir Nouveautés d'Expression Encoder 3.
Remarque : cette version gratuite d'Expression Encoder 3 n'inclut pas la prise en charge de l'encodage H.264 et de la diffusion en contenu lisse IIS. Pour utiliser ces fonctionnalités, procédez à la mise à niveau vers Expression Encoder 3 avec diffusion en contenu lisse IIS.

Détails du téléchargement : Expression Encoder 3