SuperWasp - Productivity tips, reviews, tools, software and gadgets.

ATI Catalyst Install Manager has stopped working

This problem has bugged me for a while: when installing AMD/ATI Catalyst drivers (version 7.8, 7.9, 7.10 and who knows the new 7.11), everything goes fine until you click the Install or Uninstall button:

You are then greeted with the message Catalyst Install Manager has stopped working. Apparently this has something to do with the VS2005 C++ redistributables, but that shouldn�t be our problem.

The fix is quite easy:

open a CMD-box with administrative privileges
go to your ATI drivers, probably in a location similar to this one:
C:\ATI\SUPPORT\8-10_vista32_dd_ccc_wdm_emu_69564\
then go to the BIN (or BIN64 for Vista64) folder underneath
type this command:
atisetup.exe -Install -Output screen

If all goes well the drivers will then install successfully. Do not forget to reboot your machine after installation!
Good luck!

Labels: AMD, ATI, Catalyst, crash, driver, drivers, fix, install, installation, installer, solution, Windows, Windows Vista, XP

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Posted by oVan on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 | PermaLink | 0 comments

IE Tester - Test your sites against IE8, IE7, IE6, and IE5.5: IETester is a free tool to test your websites against all major versions of Internet Explorer. It has the rendering and javascript engines of IE8 beta 2, IE7, IE6 and IE5.5 on Vista and XP.

Download: IETester v0.2.3 (24Mb)

Labels: browser, CSS, developer, IE, IE6, IE7, IE8, Microsoft, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista, XP

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Posted by oVan on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Microsoft Office 2007 Filter Pack: This download will install and register IFilters with the Windows Indexing Service. These IFilters are used by Microsoft Search products to index the contents of specific document formats. This Filter Pack includes IFilters for the following formats: .docx, .docm, .pptx, .pptm, .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb, .zip, .one, .vdx, .vsd, .vss, .vst, .vdx, .vsx, and .vtx.

Download details: Microsoft Filter Pack

Labels: 2007, download, free, Microsoft, MSO2007, Office, Office 2007, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista, XP

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Posted by oVan on Monday, October 13, 2008 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Microsoft Web Platform Installer: Microsoft has released a new tool aimed at web developers: Microsoft Web Platform Installer. Although it�s still a beta, it�s already a one-stop shop to install all necessary tools, service packs and extensions, including IIS, ASP.NET, SQL Server 2008, Visual Web Developer 2008, all of the current IIS Extensions and more!

Once installed, this tool automatically discovers new additions and updates to the platform, keeping you up to date.

Additionally, Microsoft has launched a new website for web professionals (designers and developers): microsoft.com/web

Go to: Microsoft Web Platform Installer site, or download wpilauncher.exe immediately.

Labels: .NET, 2008, asp.net, C#, developer, download, Express, install, installation, installer, Microsoft, Vista, Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studion 2008, vs2005, vs2008, web development, webdev, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Changing aspect ratio of Windows Vista Media Center: Here's a quick tip on changing the aspect ratio of Windows Media Center on Windows Vista:

Media Center in windowed mode takes the same aspect as your primary display, so if you have a widescreen lcd panel you'll get a wide media center window too.

To change the aspect from wide (16:9 or 16:10) to small (4:3), hold down the Ctrl (control) button while dragging the side edge of the media center window. You can do the same to change the aspect the other way around of course.

Enjoy!
Labels: Media Center, Vista, Windows

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Posted by oVan on Friday, August 15, 2008 | PermaLink | 2 comments

TIP: Improve weekly planning in your Outlook Calendar

Here are some quick tips to improve your productivity with the Outlook calendar:

Weekly Planning:

Create a second calendar for planning your week. Choose File | New | Calendar... and name it Planning.

In the planning calendar, make a general weekly planning by creating recurring appointments. Set their status like this: free status for home stuff, tentative status for work stuff, and busy status for must-do weekly items (backup, etc).

Assign meaningful categories to these appointments (work, phone, email, errands, home, garden, etc.) and make extensive use of Outlook's color categories. If you only need a few categories, give every one of them a distinct color.
If you plan on using lots of categories, assign the colors based on billable status (green = home stuff, blue = work stuff that brings in money, purple for unbilled work stuff, etc).

Every Monday morning, switch to the calendar view (Ctrl+2), enable Week View (Alt + "-"). Now you can do your weekly review (using David Allen's GTD-style or Franklin Covey's Big Rocks) with your planning calendar as a guide. Note that you can set the planning calendar to overlay your regular calendar, or you can display them side by side - whatever works best for you. Now it's easy to fill those days and keep a healthy balance between work and family life: a quick glance at the colors of the week will tell you if you schedule enough time for both parties.

Still in the calendar view, with the To-Do Bar at the right side open, arrange your todo's by Category. Based on the color or category, you can now quickly drag a task or follow-up item to your regular calendar:

If you drop a task onto the Daily Task List, it will set the due date of your task and update the follow-up flag.
Dropping it on a time slot of a day will create a new appointment and past the task text into the appointment.
You can also drop your task on the calendar button in the navigation pane. That will create a new appointment with the task text, and open it for editing.

Note: Dragging/dropping with the right-mouse button will give you a popup menu with choices (create or copy a new appointment - with the tasks linked as a shortcut or attachment).

Some handy and lesser known Outlook keyboard shortcuts to further improve your productivity:

General:

Control + 1: Email
Control + 2: Calendar
Control + 3: Contacts
Control + 4: Tasks
Control + 5: Notes
Control + 6: All folders
Control + 7: Your shortcuts
Control + 8: Journal
Control + Y: Jump to any folder
Control + Shift + I: Jump to Inbox
Alt + F1: toggle Navigation Pane (full, minimized, off)
Alt + F2: toggle To-Do Bar (full, minimized, off)

Calendar views (regular shortcuts):

Control + Alt + 1: Day view (1 day)
Control + Alt + 2: Work week view (5 days)
Control + Alt + 3: Full week view (7 days)
Control + Alt + 4: Month view (31 days)

Calendar views (alternative shortcuts):

Alt + 1: Day view (1 day)
Alt + 2: Day view (2 days)
Alt + 3: Day view (3 days)
Alt + 4: Day view (4 days)
Alt + 5: Day view (5 days)
Alt + 6: Day view (6 days)
Alt + 7: Day view (7 days)
Alt + 8: Day view (8 days, no kidding)
Alt + 9: Day view (9 days - yes really)
Alt + 0: Day view (10 days - this rocks!)
Alt + -: Week view
Alt + =: Month view

For email:

Control + Shift + V: Move an item to a folder

Creating stuff:

Control + Shift + M: New message
Control + Shift + A: New appointment
Control + Shift + C: New contact
Control + Shift + K: New task

Has this helped you - or do you have some tips of your own? Drop a line in the comments...

Labels: 2007, key, keyboard, management, Microsoft, MSO2007, Office, Office 2007, OL2007, Outlook, Outlook 2007, productivity, project, shortcut, tip, trick, usability, Windows

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Posted by oVan on Monday, March 31, 2008 | PermaLink | 0 comments

FIX: Remove and stop respawning of My Sharing Folders

In my previous post I quickly explained how to remove the "My Sharing Folders" shell extension via the command-line. All things work fine, until you restart your computer (or WLM) and notice that it has reinstalled itself.

In this post I will go a bit further, and explain how to stop automatic reinstallation of "My Sharing Folders", as apparently Microsoft has changed the latest Windows Live Messenger.

I assume you're familiar with Regedit and you have sufficient knowledge of Windows to play around with administrative rights. Obviously, I'm not responsible for any damage you might do to your machine - you're on your own there.

Let's get started:

Exit Windows Live Messenger (not just sign out)
In a command prompt, type: regsvr32 -u -s "C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Messenger\fsshext.8.5.1302.1018.dll"

Note: you might need to change the numbers in the filename to match your version.
With Explorer, go to "C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Messenger\" and rename the fsshext.x.x.xxxx.xxxx.dll file to .old (replace X with the file version from your directory).
Next, open the registry editor (regedit), go to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\(your userid)\Products\577EC8054AB4847428FDEF82ADF9300B\Features and rename the "MsgrFeat" string to "MsgrFeat-old". Don't change the contents of this string as you might need it someday to uninstall/change Windows Live Messenger.

Start WLM, all should be ok now. Let me know if it worked out ok for you... and Digg me!

Labels: fix, hack, Live, Messenger, Microsoft, registry, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista, WLM

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Posted by oVan on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 | PermaLink | 3 comments

Removing "My Sharing Folders" from Windows Live Messenger: Here's a quick tip to remove the "My Sharing Folders" shell extension that Windows Live Messenger installs.

Open a command prompt (cmd.exe) with administrative rights. (In Vista you need to right-click and choose "Run as administrator", or type "cmd" in the start menu and press Control-Shift-Enter.)

Copy or type this command:
regsvr32 -u -s "C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Messenger\fsshext.8.5.1302.1018.dll"

Note that you must check the correct filename first, as this changes with every version of Windows Live Messenger.

Update: I've posted a follow-up article to solve the reinstallation problem created by the latest Windows Live Messenger (WLM) versions.
Labels: Live, Messenger, Vista, Windows, WLM

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Posted by oVan on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Fix: Localhost unavailable with ESET NOD32: Developers using Visual Studio will probably encounter this problem after installing ESET NOD32 antivirus or ESET Smart Security Antivirus+Firewall: browsing the web with Internet Explorer works fine except for websites you develop yourself (localhost).

Disabling the firewall or antivirus features doesn't solve this problem, however replacing localhost with 127.0.0.1 (or using FireFox) does solve it.

The real problem is easily fixed though.

Windows Vista:

In the start menu, type "notepad %system%\drivers\etc\hosts" and instead of pressing enter, right-click on the notepad icon in the top of the list (see screenshot). In the context menu you must click on "Run as administrator".

Windows XP and 2000:

Open a command prompt (cmd.exe) and type these commands:

cd %system%\drivers\etc

attrib -r -h -s hosts

notepad hosts

You will then see the following file in notepad:

The last line contains the problem. It reads:

::1 localhost

You can either remove this line and save the file, or comment it out with a pound/hash character #. Voila, fixed!
Labels: Administrator, fix, IE, IE6, IE7, Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft, problem, Vista, Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studion 2008, vs2005, vs2008, web develoment, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Friday, March 21, 2008 | PermaLink | 2 comments

Visual Studio 2008 and .NET 3.5 are here!

The Wait for Visual Studio 2008 is Over!

On Monday, Nov. 19, Microsoft announced that Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 were released to manufacturing (RTM). With more than 250 new features,Visual Studio 2008 includes significant enhancements in every edition, including Visual Studio Express and Visual Studio Team System. Developers of all levels – from hobbyists to enterprise development teams – now have a consistent, secure and reliable solution for developing applications for the latest platforms: the Web, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, the 2007 Office system, and beyond.

Labels: .NET, asp.net, C#, free, Microsoft, MSDN, Visual Studio Orcas, web develoment, Windows

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Posted by oVan on Monday, November 19, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Another USB Update for Vista: KB 941600

Cumulative update rollup for USB core components in Windows Vista

This article describes an update rollup that resolves some reliability issues in the USB core components in Windows Vista. You will achieve better reliability in various scenarios by installing this update.

KB 925528: Stop errors occur on a Windows-based computer that has 2GB or more of RAM and is using an NVIDIA nForce USB controller
KB 929734: You may experience problems after you resume a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep or from hibernation
KB 930568: Error message when you try to put a Windows Vista-based computer to sleep or into hibernation: "STOP 0x000000FE BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER"
KB 929478: After you use the Safely Remove Hardware option to remove a built-in optical drive from a portable Windows Vista-based computer, you may be unable to reconnect the drive
KB 930570: Error message in the Usbhub.sys process when you wake a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep or from hibernation: "STOP 0x00000044"
KB 928631: A USB device may no longer work correctly after Windows Vista resumes from sleep or from hibernation
KB 933433: Recording quality is poor when you use a USB microphone on a Windows Vista-based computer that has 4 GB of RAM or more
KB 933442: A USB composite device does not work after you disable and then enable the device in Device Manager on a computer that is running Windows Vista
KB 934633: When you connect a USB multifunction printer device to a Windows Vista-based computer, a second instance of the printer object is created, and the first instance no longer works
KB 934796: Error message on a Windows Vista-based computer that is running a USB composite device: "STOP 0x000000FE"
KB 933824: The Safely Remove Hardware feature and the Windows Explorer "Eject" command do not work correctly with an Apple iPod that is connected to a Windows Vista-based computer
KB 935782: A USB device takes a long time to resume from "selective suspend" mode on a Windows Vista-based computer that uses UHCI USB controllers
KB 935783: When you resume a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep, you may experience unexpected behavior from a USB device

The following issues were not previously documented in a Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

When the computer resumes from a suspend state or from a hibernation state, the computer stops responding. Additionally, you receive a "0x9F" stop message on a blue screen.

The computer takes a long time to resume from a suspend state or from a hibernation state.

The computer takes a long time to resume from a suspend state or from a hibernation state when you use a VIA controller.

The computer stops responding when you use an AuthenTec USB fingerprint reader. Additionally, you receive a "0xFE" Stop error on a blue screen or a "0x9F" Stop error on a blue screen.

The computer stops responding when you use a USB Bluetooth audio device.

The computer takes a long time to resume from a suspend state or from a hibernation state when you use an Enhanced Host Controller Interface (EHCI) controller.

The computer stops responding when you remove a USB device. Additionally, you receive a "0xFE" Stop error on a blue screen.

When a computer resumes from a suspend state or from a hibernation state multiple times, you receive a "0xFE" Stop error on a blue screen.

Windows Vista, 32-bit versions:
Download the 941600 package now

Windows Vista, 64-bit versions:
Download the 941600 package now

Labels: patch, performance, reliability, update, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Thursday, November 08, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

New Vista update improving compatibility, reliability, and stability

This update improves the compatibility, reliability, and stability of Windows Vista. This update includes the following improvements:

It extends the battery life for mobile devices.

It improves the stability of portable computers and of desktop computers that use an uninterruptable power supply (UPS).

It improves the reliability of Windows Vista when you open the menu of a startup application.

It improves the stability of wireless network services.

It shortens the startup time of Windows Vista by using a better timing structure.

It shortens the recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity.

It shortens the recovery time when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.

It improves the stability of Windows PowerShell.

This update also resolves the following issues in Windows Vista:

A compatibility issue that affects some third-party antivirus software applications.

A reliability issue that occurs when a Windows Vista-based computer uses certain network driver configurations.

Download the update for Windows Vista x86-based versions (KB941649) package now.
Download the update for Windows Vista x64-based versions (KB941649) package now.

Labels: patch, performance, reliability, update, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Wednesday, November 07, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Windows Vista October Reliability and Performance Updates

Microsoft has released several updates to improve the reliabiliy and compatibility of Windows Vista in certain scenarios. The issues resolved by these updates are detailed in the following Knowledge Base articles:

October 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista (KB941229)
Microsoft has released the October 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista. This update rollup is intended for computers that are running Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate.
Issues that are resolved by this update:
In addition to the fixes that are contained in the updates that are listed in the "Hotfix replacement information" section, the October 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista resolves the following issues: � Several issues that are related to the Media Center Extensibility Platform
- An issue that affects digital cable card components when you use Scientific Atlanta cable cards
- Interaction issues that occur between Media Center PC and Microsoft Xbox 360 when Xbox 360 is used as a Media Center Extender.
- Autolaunch issues that occur with video CD (VCD) media
Hotfix replacement information
This is a cumulative update. This update replaces the following updates:
- KB 935652 June 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista
- KB 932818 April 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista

Cumulative update rollup for USB core components in Windows Vista (KB941600)
This update resolves some reliability issues in the USB core components on the Windows Vista operating system.
Issues that are fixed in the update rollup
- KB 925528 Stop errors occur on a Windows-based computer that has 2GB or more of RAM and is using an NVIDIA nForce USB controller
- KB 929734 You may experience problems after you resume a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep or from hibernation
- KB 930568 Error message when you try to put a Windows Vista-based computer to sleep or into hibernation: "STOP 0x000000FE BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER"
- KB 929478 After you use the Safely Remove Hardware option to remove a built-in optical drive from a portable Windows Vista-based computer, you may be unable to reconnect the drive
- KB 930570 Error message in the Usbhub.sys process when you wake a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep or from hibernation: "STOP 0x00000044"
- KB 928631 A USB device may no longer work correctly after Windows Vista resumes from sleep or from hibernation
- KB 933433 Recording quality is poor when you use a USB microphone on a Windows Vista-based computer that has 4 GB of RAM or more
- KB 933442 A USB composite device does not work after you disable and then enable the device in Device Manager on a computer that is running Windows Vista
- KB 934633 When you connect a USB multifunction printer device to a Windows Vista-based computer, a second instance of the printer object is created, and the first instance no longer works
- KB 934796 Error message on a Windows Vista-based computer that is running a USB composite device: "STOP 0x000000FE"
- KB 933824 The Safely Remove Hardware feature and the Windows Explorer "Eject" command do not work correctly with an Apple iPod that is connected to a Windows Vista-based computer
- KB 935782 A USB device takes a long time to resume from "selective suspend" mode on a Windows Vista-based computer that uses UHCI USB controllers
- KB 935783 When you resume a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep, you may experience unexpected behavior from a USB device
The following issues were not previously documented in a Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
- When the computer resumes from a suspend state or from a hibernation state, the computer stops responding. Additionally, you receive a "0x9F" stop message on a blue screen.
- The computer takes a long time to resume from a suspend state or from a hibernation state.
- The computer takes a long time to resume from a suspend state or from a hibernation state when you use a VIA controller.
- The computer stops responding when you use an AuthenTec USB fingerprint reader. Additionally, you receive a "0xFE" Stop error on a blue screen or a "0x9F" Stop error on a blue screen.
- The computer stops responding when you use a USB Bluetooth audio device.
- The computer takes a long time to resume from a suspend state or from a hibernation state when you use an Enhanced Host Controller Interface (EHCI) controller.
- The computer stops responding when you remove a USB device. Additionally, you receive a "0xFE" Stop error on a blue screen.
- When a computer resumes from a suspend state or from a hibernation state multiple times, you receive a "0xFE" Stop error on a blue screen.

Update for Windows Vista (KB941649)
This update improves the compatibility, reliability, and stability of Windows Vista.
This update improves the compatibility, reliability, and stability of Windows Vista. This update includes the following improvements:
- It extends the battery life for mobile devices.
- It improves the stability of portable computers and of desktop computers that use an uninterruptable power supply (UPS).
- It improves the reliability of Windows Vista when you open the menu of a startup application.
- It improves the stability of Internet Explorer when you open a Web page.
- It improves the stability of wireless network services.
- It shortens the startup time of Windows Vista by using a better timing structure.
- It shortens the recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity.
- It shortens the recovery time when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
- It improves the stability of Windows PowerShell.
This update also resolves the following issues in Windows Vista:
- A compatibility issue that affects some third-party antivirus software applications.
- A reliability issue that occurs when a Windows Vista-based computer uses certain network driver configurations.

Update for Windows Vista (KB941651) [KB article TBA -- Download below]
This is a reliability update. Install this update to improve the reliability of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows Vista in certain scenarios.

Via: Bink.nu

Labels: Microsoft, patch, reliability, update, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Wednesday, October 03, 2007 | PermaLink | 1 comments

Finally New Visualizations for WMP!

Finally some new visualizations for Windows Media Player:

Thanks to two Microsoft employees who worked on it for a long time, you can now enjoy this beautiful screen animation when you're listening to your music.

As a requirement to run these visualizations, you will need a graphics card that supports at least shader model 2.0 (most DirectX 9 graphics cards will), which might seem like a high requirement for visualizers, but how else are you suppose to create visual magic right?

Included in the single package are 7 visualizations with over 40 variations in total, including

Album Art 3D - 3D cubes with the album art of the song you�re currently playing

Bubbles - inspired by the Bubbles Vista screensavers also featuring the album art

Distortion - distorts the album art in a 3D waveform

Hypnobloom - hypnotic checkered purple rings

Ribbons - inspired by the Mystify and Ribbons Vista screensavers (as seen above)

Gigertron 3D - 3D layered visualizer bars

up cuber - a pigment arrangement of 3D hexagon cubes

Enjoy, it's a free download!

Labels: download, free, media player, Vista, visualization, Windows, WMP

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Posted by oVan on Friday, August 31, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Additional Updates for Windows Vista

Here's a collection of recent updates for Microsoft Windows Vista that are not pushed through Windows Update or Microsoft Update.

Download Update for Windows Vista KB936710 or x64 version
Install this Microsoft update to help resolve a secondary graphic card operability issue when running DirectX 10 applications on multiple graphics cards.

Download Update for Windows Vista KB941090 or the x64 version.
Install this update to resolve an issue where messages become stuck in the Outbox and cannot be deleted when using Windows Mail. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Download Update for Windows Vista KB940105 or the x64 version.
Install this Microsoft update to resolve potential Graphics Virtual Address problems that may occur when running Windows Vista.

Download Update for Windows Vista KB936004 or the x64 version.
Install this update to resolve an issue where a USB telephony device (USB telephone, handset, headset and so on) is unexpectedly set as the default audio device on a computer running Windows Vista.

Source: Bink.nu

Labels: Microsoft, patch, update, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Wednesday, August 29, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

ATI Releases Catalyst 7.8 with Free Half-Life 2 Games

After the rather buggy Catalyst 7.7 drivers, ATI has today released the highly anticipated Catalyst 7.8 driver set.

Download Catalyst 7.8 (English, 72MB)

Download Catalyst 7.8 (Multilanguage, 107MB)

Note that Catalyst 7.8 also installs the Steam Games client and you can get 2 free games from ATI here: Half-Life 2 DeathMatch and Half-Life 2 Lost Coast!

This is a quote from the ATI website:

Effective immediately, all owners of ATI Radeon graphics cards may receive a free copy of Half-Life 2: Lost Coast and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch via Steam. Steam will automatically confirm the presence of ATI Radeon hardware and then enable immediate access to full versions of the games free of charge.

Besides tons of bugfixes, there should be a noticeably performance improvement – especially for the Radeon HD 2600 and HD 2400 series.

Here's an extract of the Release Notes, some of the fixes for Vista and XP:

Call of Duty->United Offensive: Having all of the in-game settings at their maximum levels along with the Catalyst™ Control Center->3D aspect set to Optimal Quality no longer results in the Windows Vista (64 bit) operating system failing to respond after a short period of game play. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28793
The default audio device is no longer set to ATI HD Audio after installation of the display driver for the ATI Radeon™ HD2900, HD2600, and HD2400. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28483
Hot-plugging a CRT to a system running Windows Vista and containing an ATI Radeon™ X1100/1150 series of product no longer results in extended desktop mode failing to be applied. Further details can be found in topic number 737-25801
Enabling CrossFire™ followed by disconnecting and then reconnecting the CRT display device no longer results in duplicate video options being seen within the Catalyst™ Control Center. Further details can be found in topic number 737-27457
Enabling CrossFire™ followed by setting AA to 14x and AF to 16x no longer results in the AA showing a setting of 0x level when disabling CrossFire™ and unchecking the AA option in the 3D aspect. Further details can be found in topic number 737-27458
Making changes to the Color aspect found in the Catalyst™ Control Center without applying the changes no longer results in the Reactivate ATI color controls button remaining active after the Catalyst™ Control Center is closed and then re-launched. Further details can be found in topic number 737-27459
Enabling CrossFire™ followed by setting the OverDrive™ clocks to their maximum settings no longer results in the Catalyst™ Control Center failing to accurately report the requested OverDrive™ values. Further details can be found in topic number 737-27621
Performing an un-install of the display drivers on a CrossFire™ configured system no longer results in extended desktop mode becoming active resulting in all of the desktop icons failing to appear. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28478
Catalyst™ Control Center->3D->Anti-Aliasing: Unchecking the option to Use Application Setting found in the 3D aspect page when CrossFire™ is enabled no longer results in the maximum AA setting being 6x. This issue may also be experienced under the Windows XP operating system. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28479
Performing either a custom or express install of the display driver no longer results in the system possibly failing to respond and the installation of the driver failing. This issue was known to occur when using an ATI Radeon™ X1950 CrossFire™ Edition product installed on in a system containing an Intel975. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28481
HDMI audio stutter is no longer heard when playing MPEG clip at certain resolutions on some HDMI device. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28484
The Scaling options found in the Catalyst™ Control Center no longer disappears when relaunching the Catalyst™ Control Center after applying optimized and custom formats for Component Video. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28855
Connecting a secondary display device (CRT) and enabling extended desktop mode no longer results in invalid refresh rates being available in the Display Manager. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28787
Making adjustments to the Gamma, Brightness, and Contrast and not applying the changes no longer results in the desktop image failing to return to its default color values when performing a hot-reboot of the system. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28787
All supported display resolutions are now available in the Display Manager when connecting a secondary display device and enabling extended desktop mode. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28789
Performing an un-install of the display driver no longer results in the display entering an extended desktop mode and the desktop icons failing to be displayed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28478
Setting the Avivo Video Brightness to less than 0 within the Catalyst™ Control Center no longer results in a white frame being created in the Windows Media Player when fullscreen mode is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28790
The Enable ATI Overdrive clocks for 3d applications is no longer available on non supported products such as the ATI Radeon™ HD 2600 series of product. Further information may be found in topic number 737-28477
Setting the Avivo Video De-interlacing setting to auto, motion adaptive or vector adaptive no longer results in certain DVDs, menu videos and some special features failing to benefit from the options. Further information on this issue may be found in topic number 737-27196
The color depth no longer changes to 8bpp when enabling or disabling CrossFire™ for the first time. Further information may be found in topic number 737-28485
Connecting a TV followed by removing the display resolution of 640x480 from the mode table no longer results in the both the TV and LCD failing to display an image. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28490
An unhandled exception no longer occurs when running an OGL application and resuming from S3 under Vista on various ATI Radeon™ Xpress 1200/1250/1300 series products. Further details can be found in topic number 737-27960
Windows Media Player: Playing a DVD in full screen mode no longer results in vertical bar corruption being noticed during playback. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28497
DVD display no longer blinks in red when Overdrive is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28794

Some of the fixes for XP:

Star Wars knights of the Old Republic 2: Corruption is no longer seen when running the game on some members of the ATI Radeon™ Xpress 1200/1250/1300 series of products. Further details can be found in topic number 737-27098
CounterStrike Source, Day of Defeat Source, and Half-Life 2 Episode 1, Excessive fog is no longer noticed when playing these games. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28795
The Overscan/Underscan slider bar is no longer enabled when setting display resolutions of 1280x1024 or higher on systems containing an ATI Radeon™ HD 2900 XT series of product. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28843
Adobe After Effects 8: The application no longer fails to load on systems containing an ATI Radeon™ X700 series of product. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28796
PowerDVD6: Momentary desktop corruption is no longer noticed when minimizing the DVD playback window after stretching the playback window approximately 80%. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28797
The system no longer becomes unresponsive and no longer requires a reboot while randomly moving Video Player window from primary to extended desktop under certain hardware configurations where the second adapter is an ATI Radeon™ X1200/1250/1270 series of product. Further details can be found in topic number 737-27092
A warning message indicating CrossFire™ cannot be enabled because some 3D applications are running or the interconnect cable is not connected, or the motherboard has no communication channels between PCI-Express slots is no longer displayed when using a motherboard with an Intel I965 chipset. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28798
The CrossFire™ page is no longer greyed out and cannot be enabled when attempting to use a software CrossFire™ configuration on a system using a motherboard with an Intel I975 chipset. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28799
The Avivo components are now listed in the ADD/Remove Programs after installation of the display driver. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28800
Switching HD-DVD titles during playback with hardware acceleration enabled no longer results in the playback to be blocked. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28802
WinDVD8: Playing a DVD and changing the video setting to Hardware Acceleration mode no longer results in corruption being noticed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-28803

Labels: ATI, download, driver, drivers, free, games, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista, XP

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Posted by oVan on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

How to shutdown or restart Vista via RDP?: I'm sure Murphy must be around the corner, because when I recently upgraded my video card from nVidia to a new ATI HD 2600 based card, I encountered a lot of problems that I did not expect.

As I've written before, the ATI video card and drivers in my notebook performed flawlessly from Vista Day 1. The nVidia drivers for the Quadro FX 550 on my workstation however had lots of problems, but in the end I've been able to solve it with more recent beta drivers and removing the SoundBlaster X-Fi card. Since that moment my workstation behaved perfectly also — no troubles with sleep, hibernation, shut down, restart whatsoever!

However, when I recently decided that the nVidia card was way too slow for this powerful machine, I've chosen an ATI-based card so that I would not encounter those problems again. But! Apparently the latest ATI Catalyst 7.7 and even Catalyst Beta 7.8 drivers still have problems with this brand new ATI HD 2600 XT Super, turning the whole sleep/shutdown/restart procedure back into a nightmare.

Sometimes the machine doesn't boot at all, just two beeps meaning it is tired of waiting for video initialization. At that point you can't even access the BIOS. The only way to revive is remove the power cord while it is turned on, or remove the card and reinsert it. Both solutions reset the video card from whatever buggy state it was left in.
Other times, it boots perfectly and restores the last session you were using, except you get NO picture... just a black screen! The only way to gracefully recover from this mess is to use Remote Desktop Connection from another machine. A glance at the event log reveals the following suspicious events:
The device 'ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT' (PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9588&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00\4&cff77c&0&0020) disappeared from the system without first being prepared for removal.

The device 'High Definition Audio Controller' (PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_AA08&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00\4&cff77c&0&0120) disappeared from the system without first being prepared for removal.

The device 'High Definition Audio Device' (HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_1002&DEV_AA01&SUBSYS_00AA0100&REV_1000\5&921ff23&0&0001) disappeared from the system without first being prepared for removal.

Note: The HD Audio device is a feature of the ATI Radeon HD 2600/2400 series, it is located on the video card and not on my motherboard.

Update: I've been able to fix these problems, see my recent posting about it.

Now using my workstation via RDP is fine and works really well, but it is no substitute for the real thing. It's as slow as the nVidia FX 550, so what did I change cards for then?

So the time has come to reboot the machine...but how to do that via Remote Desktop Connection? As you can see, you don't get the usual choices from the Start menu. The Power button has been changed into an X to disconnect the session:

The fly-out menu isn't any better, you just get Log Off and Lock:

If you look carefully, you'll notice a new button on the Start menu, it's called Windows Security. (This also happens on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 Workstation/Server)

This brings you to the following screen (similar as pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete on your own Vista machine) where you'll notice the red power button in the bottom right corner. There you go: Restart, Sleep and Shut Down!

Labels: Microsoft, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 | PermaLink | 2 comments

No more silent AutoPlay bypassing in Vista: Yeah, you know the trick, it's saved us from a lot of trouble. Holding down that Shift-key when inserting a CD or DVD made sure that nothing was autoplayed...

Now what do my eyes read in the Help-section from Windows Vista:
Why can't I override AutoPlay by pressing the SHIFT key as I could in Windows XP?
AutoPlay has been redesigned. Now holding down the SHIFT key opens AutoPlay regardless of the default setting.

For a moment I thought Microsoft had given in to the pressure of their commercial partners, but luckily you'll get the list of AutoPlay choices and thus you can always choose "View files".
Labels: AutoPlay, Microsoft, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Thursday, August 02, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Fix: Vista desktop stops updating

Microsoft is very productive lately, they have released a fix for these symptoms:
After a Windows Vista-based computer has been running for an extended period of time, the desktop screen may stop updating correctly. For example, you may experience any of the following symptoms:

Parts of the screen may go black.

Parts of the screen may become transparent.

The toolbar may disappear.

The toolbar may appear at the top of the screen instead of at the bottom of the screen.

It is described in detail in KB 932406: The Windows desktop may stop updating correctly after a Windows Vista-based computer has been running for an extended period of time.

Download here: 32 bit or 64 bit

Labels: desktop, fix, KB, Microsoft, patch, problem, update, WDM, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Fix: Vista sleep problems with High Definition Audio device: Similar to the sleep problems with Creative X-Fi and SoundBlaster audio cards, many Vista users have sleep/hibernation problems with the High Definiation Audio device from Intel.

Microsoft has released a new fix: as described in KB 937077: A high definition audio device may no longer work after you resume Windows Vista from hibernation or from sleep.

Download here: 32-bit or 64 bit
Labels: AC'97, AC97, audio, fix, HD, HD Audio, hibernate, hibernation, Intel, Microsoft, problem, problems, sleep, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Apple Safari 3 for Windows (beta)

Apple has released a public beta of their Safari browser version 3, including a Windows-version.

Here are the top reasons Apple wants you to know:

Blazing Performance

Elegant User Interface

Easy Bookmarks

Pop-up Blocking

Inline Find

Tabbed Browsing

SnapBack

Forms AutoFill

Built-in RSS

Resizable Text Fields

Private Browsing

Security

That list looks pretty compelling! I might add another reason, especially for web developers: it is the easiest way to know how your website might look on an Apple. If you install it together with Firefox 1.5 in the free Microsoft VirtualPC with IE6, you can easily test IE6, IE7, Safari 3, Firefox 1.5 and Firefox 2.0 on a single Vista or XP machine without much trouble.

Update: In my follow-up post, I list no less than 22 problems with Safari on Windows that I've encountered in the first hour of usage. Suffice to say that I have uninstalled it now, and I'll revert to my previously reported method of cross-platform checking.

Labels: Apple, browser, IE, Microsoft, Safari, Windows

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Posted by oVan on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Looking for a Notepad replacement?

In the dark ages (before Vista) I used Metapad because it was extremely quick and offered a lot of functionality in a very small package, and it is free. With a few tricks, you could even circumvent the Windows XP Protected File feature and really replace the default Notepad application. With Vista however, you can't just do those tricks anymore. So I was looking for a Notepad replacement, at the very least to improve the View Source feature in Internet Explorer.

At first I had set UltraEdit as default editor for IE's View Source feature, since it offers syntax highlighting, a gazillion editing features and even makes your coffee. Hmm, perhaps not that last feature, but it's a mighty application I've been using for years (I even have a shortcut in Visual Studio to jump to UltraEdit just for column editing). But although UE is not slow in performance, the few seconds load time accumulate for every View Source I perform throughout the day, and thus the hunt continued.

And thus I found Notepad2, another leightweight Notepad replacement like Metapad, but it has a few tricks in its hat that I like. Similar to Metapad, it offers instant launch and doesn't need fancy installation programs. Additionally, here are some things I really like about it:

Syntax highlighting

A gazillion keyboard shortcuts

Minimize to tray

Tab settings (tabs/spaces)

Auto-indent

Escape key minimizes or quits Notepad2

Highlight current line (like UltraEdit)

View whitespace, line endings, etc.

And so much more...

So instead of a Notepad replacement, I found a Metapad replacement with UltraEdit allures!

To make Notepad2 the default View Source application, you need to change the following registry key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ViewSourceEditor\Editor Name\
and set the (Default) entry to "C:\Program Files\Notepad2\Notepad2.exe".

So far, I'm a happy camper. If you know the trick to totally replace Notepad in Vista, let me know!

Labels: metapad, notepad, notepad2, registry, replacement, ultraedit, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Friday, June 08, 2007 | PermaLink | 3 comments

Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 for Vista Released

Microsoft has finally released Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 for Windows Vista.

Here's a bit of info from their website:

The Windows Mobile Device Center enables you to set up new partnerships, synchronize content and manage music, pictures and video with Windows Mobile powered devices (Windows Mobile 2003 or later). The Windows Mobile Device Center combines an efficient business-data synchronization platform with a compelling user experience. The Windows Mobile Device Center helps you to quickly set up new partnerships, synchronize business-critical information such as e-mail, contacts and calendar appointments, easily manage your synchronization settings, and transfer business documents between your device and PC.

This new version of the Windows Mobile Device Center contains key improvements and new features to support Windows Mobile 6 devices. The Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 is only supported on Windows Vista.

Key updates in Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 include: Windows

Mobile 6 feature support

Information Rights Management activation - Automatically configure the Windows Mobile 6 device to open IRM-protected documents and files

HTML mail � Set up your Windows Mobile 6 device to sync HTML-formatted mail

Certificate Enrollment - Acquire certificates through the PC the Windows Mobile 6 device is currently connected to

Allow data connections on the Windows Mobile 6 device when connected to the PC

File synchronization for smartphones � Synchronize files with your Windows Mobile 6 devices, including both touch screen and non-touch screen devices

Automatic device authentication - Connect the Windows Mobile device to the PC without the need to enter the device-lock PIN every time upon connect

Product Registration - Register your Windows Mobile device and get connected to information and offers available for your device

Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 is fully compatible with Windows Mobile 2003 devices and later.

Labels: download, Microsoft, Smartphone, Vista, Windows, Windows Mobile, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Thursday, June 07, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Vista Productivity Tip: Quick Access to Windows Mobility Center: Notebook users are often avid keyboard users, using a mouse is not always practical on the road or in the garden and you can do many tasks so much quicker with a few quickstrokes.

Windows Vista has a number of keyboard shortcuts that make life a little easier. One of them is Win+X: on notebooks, laptops and tablet pc's this launches the Windows Mobility Center. (Win+X is the Windows Logo Key together with the letter X)

The Windows Mobility Center gives you quick access to typical notebook-related activities. These are presented as small tiles: volume settings, battery status, wireless network, external display, sync settings and presentation settings.

Apparently it is also possible for third parties to create extra tiles, but so far I haven't seen them. One thing I'm missing here on my Dell Latitude D810 notebook is a tile for Bluetooth. Have you seen it, or do you know if it exists? What about other usefull tiles? Let us know, post a comment!
Labels: keyboard, Microsoft, mobility, productivity, tip, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Sunday, June 03, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

How reliable is your Vista?: One of the best features in Windows Vista is still unknown to a lot of people: the Reliability and Performance Monitor is a very handy program based on the Microsoft Management Console interface that shows you a lot of information on the current performance and the historical stability of your computer. To start this tool, type "reliability" in the Start Menu and you'll see the shortcut to the "Reliability and Performance Monitor".

Upon launch, it shows you the actual performance status in 4 horizontal bars: CPU, Disk, Network and Memory. When you click on Resource Overview, you get those nifty graphs that show you the latest trends.

When you select the Reliability Monitor from the left column, you'll get a historical chart showing you how reliable your computer was until yesterday. This is based on a lot of factors: software installs and uninstalls, application failures, hardware failures, Windows failures and miscellaneous failures.
When you installed Vista (or bought a new computer with Vista pre-installed), your computer started with reliability index 10. Every day that ended with some problem will lower the index. Similarly, every day without any problem will raise the index a bit. Selecting a day in the chart will immediately give you a list of all problems that occured. This feature comes in very handy when you need to troubleshoot a computer of someone else. Without having to rely on their story, you just open the reliability chart and immediately see what causes the problem.

ps: As you can see in the screenshot above, the reliability index for my Dell notebook is at a very low index of 3.80. This is caused by the HP Sleep Service (HPSLPSVC) that crashes every time returning from sleep (what's in a name?), despite numerous chats with the friendly HP Live Support and disabling DEP for all HP software.
Labels: monitor, reliability, reliable, tip, trick, Windows, Windows Vista

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Posted by oVan on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Solving your Vista sleep problems (really): Once upon a time
I've posted before of my journeys into solving Vista sleep problems. Although using the latest nVidia drivers for the video card certainly eliminated a lot of lockups, the truth is that the problems on my Dell Precision Workstation 690 never really went away.
In my origina