Archive for the ‘Software Fixes’ Category

Windows 7 Walkthrough, Boot Video and Impressions

Like Elvis in ‘68, Microsoft is itching for a “comeback,” and Windows 7 is the perfect excuse. In fact, this week in LA at the Professional Developers Conference, Windows 7 officially shoved Vista aside. Having suffered through the often deserved criticisms of that ill-fated OS installment, Microsoft’s people are thrilled to tears to be able to talk about something (anything!) else. On Sunday, they took journalists through a lively 7-hour orientation on Win 7, then handed off a Dell XPS M1330 loaded with pre-beta Build 6801. Thankfully for the overworked, underappreciated developers at Redmond, it’s surprisingly stable, and its look and feel already puts Vista to shame.

Here’s a walkthrough of the system

5 Apps For XP Windows Reloads

Thanks to customers who can’t avoid spyware and trojans to save their lives, I’ve gotten pretty quick at backing up, reformatting, and finishing off Windows installs. I’ve got five core tools that I use to get the job done, and here they are.

  1. DriverMax. After going through the install process, the first thing I shoot for is a complete set of functional drivers. Running DriverMax before the format lets you back up all the drivers on a system. It’s a great app, and it even loads drivers for non-present devices - meaning my customers don’t have to fight with a printer or webcam install CD when they get their computer home.
  2. Migwiz. Oh god, I can hear the screams. Truth be told, I’ve only had three problems with migwiz, and they were all my fault. Microsoft’s file and settings transfer utility works extremely well, and I’ve never had a problem since changing my method.

    Copy the USMT folder from the computer’s c:\windows\system32\ and save it to a USB drive. Alternatively, do what the wizard wants you do and create a wizard disk. Run the exe from there both before and after the reformat. It’s critical to use the exact same version of the executable to avoid problems.

  1. Nlite. I don’t like being forced to babysit a Windows install, so I’m a big fan of NLite (or VLite for Vista). Extract your CD’s contents to a folder, run N/VLite on it, fill in the blanks, and grab some application addons from Winaddons. Burn your disc and presto, you’ve got a silent Windows install!
  2. WPI. The Windows post install makes post-reformat application installs a breeze. Throw your favorite apps in a folder and set up their silent switches in the WPI configuration page. Reinstalling them is as easy as checking some boxes and clicking a button.

    The tutorial at the WPIW site is excellent, and will guide you through setting up your first Wizard.

  3. PING (Parition Image is Not Ghost). Now that you’ve got a nice, clean install, create an image so you don’t have to go through that garbage again. Imaging saves all kinds of hassles and massive external hard drives are dirt cheap. Pick one up and reimage instead of reformatting again next time.

What about you? What apps help you get from a crapped up install back to a nice, clean OS?

original article

Vista Password recovery

winpass, choose vista folder, unlock account, clear password

winpass -u username
Hack Windows Vista! - Click here for this week’s top video clips

How to change MOTHERBOARDS

This is a real MOTHER! Yea! I finally got Vista to work, but needed a new motherboard for certain Vista enhancements to work fully.
Changing your own motherboard is fairly easy.

Features that were a part of Windows XP, removed from Windows Vista

While Windows Vista contains many new features, a number of capabilities and certain programs that were a part of Windows XP are no longer present or changed, resulting in the removal of certain functionality. The following is a list of features which were present in Windows XP but which have been removed in Windows Vista.

* 1 Windows Shell
* 2 Windows Explorer
* 3 User account rights and logon
* 4 Win32 console
* 5 Networking
* 6 Multimedia
* 7 File system, drivers and memory
* 8 Boot, shutdown, power management
* 9 Windows applications and features
* 10 Legacy applications and features
* 11 Graphics, DirectX and video
* 12 Installation and servicing
* 13 Other minor changes
* 14 See also
* 15 Notes and references
* 16 External links

Windows Shell

* Active Desktop functionality has been removed. As a result, animated GIF files can no longer be set as the desktop background. No other dynamic web content such as HTML or HTA files can run on the desktop, although Windows DreamScene (only released for the Windows Vista Ultimate) allows using videos as the background.
* The File Types tab has been removed from Folder Options. This feature was available from Windows 95 up to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The File Types tab allowed users to change the file associations for various types of files. It allowed configuring which application would open when a user clicked on a certain type of file, or allowed manually defining a new file extension, defining/editing custom secondary actions, showing extensions only for specific file types, or customizing the file icon. While there is a more simplified option to change the file associations, called Default Programs in the Windows Vista Control Panel, this option only allows users to change the default action that occurs when they double click a file. It does not allow users to choose which application would load if the user were to right click on a file and then choose a secondary option such as Edit. The Open With dialog box in Windows Vista also uses the corresponding Default Programs API which limits only one registered application to be set as the default program. [1] It is also not possible to navigate/jump to a particular extension using the alphanumeric keys on a keyboard; scrolling is required.
* The configuration tab to quickly associate with media file types has also been removed from Windows Media Player 11 options in Windows Vista.
* It is not possible to override AutoPlay by pressing the SHIFT key as was possible in previous versions, though it can still be disabled through Control Panel. [2]
* AutoPlay settings cannot be configured per-device; they are set globally. [3]
* It is not possible to list fonts by similarity based on PANOSE information or hide font variations such as Bold, Italic etc in the Fonts folder.
* Menus cannot be set to slide anymore using the user interface. Only the fade effect is available.
* The taskbar cannot be dragged to the bottom of the screen to hide it manually.
* Toolbars such as “Quick Launch” can no longer be “dragged off” the taskbar as floating minibars or docked to another edge of the screen, though physical folders can be dragged onto the desktop edge in a similar manner. The Language Bar is the only toolbar that can float on the desktop.
* Some functions [4] and name exports [5] have been removed from shell32.dll. [6] (more…)