SuperWasp

Productivity tips, reviews, tools, software and gadgets.

Fantastic Easter Egg in Windows 7 and Vista

There's a great easter egg hidden in Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit), and Vista (32-bit):

Make a new folder, then rename it to:

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

The icon of the folder will change to a Control Panel Icon, and you’ll get a stunning list of all available system settings and control panel applets.

Now you are in charge!

Via: Ina Fried

Labels: easter egg, hack, secret, tip, trick, Windows, Windows 7, Windows Vista

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  Posted by oVan on Wednesday, January 06, 2010 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Download free eBook to master PowerShell

I’m sure you’ve heard good things about the mighty Windows PowerShell console in Windows already, but did you start discovering it yet? Many of us will be overwhelmed by the functionality and possibilities… so to remedy this, here’s the free Mastering PowerShell eBook, courtesy of Dr. Tobias Weltner, a PowerShell MVP. You’ll find lots of other interesting info on the PowerShell.com website.

For more information on scripting with Windows PowerShell, visit the Script Center on Microsoft TechNet here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scriptcenter/dd742419.aspx

Here’s the direct download link:
http://powershell.com/Mastering-PowerShell.pdf

Labels: download, free, Server 2008, shell, Windows, Windows 7

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  Posted by oVan on Monday, August 24, 2009 | PermaLink | 1 comments

Windows 7 Sticky Notes Keyboard Shortcuts

Windows 7 has a new app called Sticky Notes that replaces the similar sidebar gadget. Finally an integrated way of putting lots of colored postit-notes on your desktop.

The bad news first: when you use Aero Peek to have a quick glance at your desktop, the sticky notes disappear (as will any other app of course). The sidebar or desktop gadget would’ve shown here… A workaround could be to pin the Sticky Notes app to your taskbar and use the Win+(Number) key combination to show and hide your notes.

The good news: even though it seems that you can only type plain text in your notes, in reality there are a lot of familiar keyboard shortcuts to bring your notes alive:

Control+L = left align
Control+E = center
Control+R = right align
Control+T = strikethrough
Control+U = underline
Control+I = italic
Control+B = bold

Ctrl+Shift+> = bigger font
Ctrl+Shift+< = smaller font

Ctrl+Shift+L = bulleted list

Control+N = new note
Control+D = DELETE (without confirmation!)

Control+A = select all
Control+X = cut
Control+C = copy
Control+V = paste

Control+Z = undo
Control+Y = redo

Labels: keyboard, shortcut, tip, trick, Windows, Windows 7

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  Posted by oVan on Wednesday, May 06, 2009 | PermaLink | 3 comments

Big List of Windows 7 Secrets

Keyboard junkies and power users rejoice! Here's a great list of Windows 7 secrets, some of which also work in Vista SP2, published by Tim Sneath.

The keyboard combinations Win+Up, Win+Down, Win+Shift+Up, Win+Shift+Down, Win+Left, Win+Right to maximize/minimize/move windows are real life savers. So is Win+T to access the taskbar, Win+Space to enable Aero Peek, and Control+click on a taskbar icon to switch between multiple windows of the same program.

Read all these powerful tips here: Bumper List of Windows 7 Secrets

Labels: keyboard, shortcut, tip, trick, Windows, Windows 7, Windows Vista

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  Posted by oVan on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Broken apps in Windows 7

Although almost anything that works on Windows Vista also works on Windows 7, there are certainly exceptions. Here's a list of apps not working in Windows 7 beta:

• FinePrint 6: this excellent print preview driver saves huge amounts of paper and ink. Unfortunately, kernel-mode printer drivers are not allowed anymore, and the famous KMPrintersAreBlocked registry hack does not work.
  In a reply from the tech department, FinePrint Software says a fix is underway, perhaps as soon as this week! Update: as FinePrint tech support promised, the latest FinePrint 6.05 installs perfectly on Windows 7.
• ISO mounting tools: although Windows 7 now has native support for ISO disc images, it is only possible to burn them to disk. You can't mount them as a virtual drive. None of the software I tried worked on Windows 7: MagicDisc installs but doesn't work, same story for VirtualCloneDrive, and Windows 7 is so kind to let us know upon installation that it doesn't support Daemon Tools currently. Alternatives anyone?
• Defrag software: Raxco PerfectDisk 2008 doesn't want to install on this version of Windows. I could try modifying the installer, but disk software is not the kind of app you want to mess with. Since Raxco has announced PerfectDisk 10 to be available on January 27, 2009, I'm sure Windows 7 support won't be far off.
  Update: Raxco confirmed in the comments below that PerfectDisk 10 supports Windows 7.

Do you know other programs or drivers that don't work on Windows 7? Do you know a workaround? Let us know!

Reported by Daniel:

Hamachi vpn client (www.hamachi.cc) (works when installed as Administrator)

The Nvidia control panel on a Dell D830 won't let me set an external ViewSonic display to 1680x1050, and it would be much happier at that resolution.

Labels: beta, compatibility, installation, Microsoft, Windows, Windows 7, Windows Vista

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  Posted by oVan on Monday, January 12, 2009 | PermaLink | 7 comments

Download Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Beta

Microsoft has released standalone versions of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Beta and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Beta in this knowledge base article: KB948465.

Download SP2 Beta

SP2 Beta Standalone updates for computers with one or more of the following five languages: English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. If your computer has any other language installed this option will not work. Windows Update installation of SP2 for Windows Server 2008 x86/x64/ia64 and Windows Vista x86/x64 Five Language SP2 Standalone: ISO for Windows Server 2008 x86/x64/ia64 and Windows Vista x86/x64 x86 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x86 x64  for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x64 IA64 for Windows Server 2008 ia64 TechNet Plus Subscribers Download integrated images, containing the full OS product and SP2 in a single image for clean install or upgrade scenarios     MSDN: Server08     MSDN: Vista     TechNet: Server08     TechNet: Vista     Install the SP2 Standalone package using the links in Non-Subscribers section

Some more information on these releases:

Windows Server 2008 SP2 Beta and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Beta is prerelease code offered to the public through our Customer Preview Program. Please see the Windows Server SP2/Windows Vista SP2 Customer Preview Program page on TechNet/MSDN for additional details, documentation, and forums.

Windows Vista SP2 TechNet
Windows Server 2008 SP2 TechNet

Windows Server 2008 SP2 Beta and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Beta apply to people, organizations, and technical enthusiasts who are comfortable evaluating prerelease software. This prerelease software is provided for testing only. Installation of Service Pack 2 Beta will result in Microsoft collecting information about the installation process, even if the installation is not completed. We do not recommend installing this software on primary or mission-critical systems. We recommend that you have a backup of your data before you install any prerelease software.

SP2 is an update to Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista that addresses feedback from our customers and partners. By providing these fixes integrated into a single service pack, Microsoft provides a single high-quality update that minimizes deployment and testing complexity for customers.
In addition to all previously released updates, SP2 will contain changes focused on addressing reliability and performance issues, supporting new kinds of hardware, and adding support for several emerging standards. SP2 will also continue to make it easier for IT administrators to deploy and manage large installations of Windows Server 2008.

Service Pack 1 is a prerequisite for installing Service Pack 2. Please make sure that your system is running Service Pack 1 before you install Service Pack 2.
Windows Server 2008 SP2 Beta and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Beta - Five Language Standalone version can be installed on systems with any of the following language versions: English, French, German, Japanese, or Spanish.

Support for Windows Server 2008 SP2 Beta and Windows Vista SP2 Beta can be received by visiting the Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 TechNet forum.

Labels: download, Microsoft, Server 2008, Service, SP1, SP2, Vista, Windows, Windows Vista

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  Posted by oVan on Saturday, December 06, 2008 | PermaLink | 0 comments

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

» Full Article

  Posted by oVan on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 | PermaLink | 11 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:

1. Exit Windows Live Messenger (not just sign out)
2. 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.
3. 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).
4. 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 | 1 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 | 4 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.

• MSDN Subscribers: Get Visual Studio 2008 Now
• Download Trial Editions of Visual Studio 2008
• Download Visual Studio 2008 Express Editions
• Download the .NET Framework 3.5

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

» Full Article

  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

» Full Article

  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:

1. 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
   
   
   
   
   


2. 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.
   
   
   
   
   


3. 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.
   
   
   
   
   


4. 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.




• Update for Windows Vista (KB941651)
  
• Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB941651)

Via: Bink.nu

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

» Full Article

  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 | 3 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:

1. Blazing Performance


2. Elegant User Interface


3. Easy Bookmarks


4. Pop-up Blocking


5. Inline Find


6. Tabbed Browsing


7. SnapBack


8. Forms AutoFill


9. Built-in RSS


10. Resizable Text Fields


11. Private Browsing


12. 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 original post Fix: How-to solve your Vista sleep problems I touched the possibility that nVidia wasn't the only one having trouble writing decent drivers. If you have a sound card from Creative you probably know what I mean.



It struck me that sometimes upon booting or waking Vista from sleep (whenever that worked) there was no sound from the speakers. A quick look at the device manager didn't show anything unusual, and the volume mixer was looking normally too; yet no sound to be heard. This strange phenomena was resolved easily by rebooting, but still it remained in the back of my head.

There's always a side track
In the second post – Windows Vista sleep problems, revisited – I side-tracked towards the LSI SCSI/SAS/SATA controller. I don't think I can prove that the changes to the power plan actually solved much, since Vista still hanged every once in a while upon entering sleep modus.

The solution I stumbled upon
Since I was looking to replace the current speaker setup (two Solid Monitor speakers with a Solid Active Power Bass (now discontinued) from Bowers & Wilkins, which needs a decent amplifier and is thus more suited for Hi-Fi systems, I decided to go with the Logitech Z-10 Interactive Speaker System. I'll leave my impressions of the Logitech speakers for a future post, but for now let me just say that I'm quite pleased with both the sound and the lookds.



What's more important and of relevance to the Vista sleep problems, is that the Logitech speakers are connected via USB instead of audio jacks. Unless you want to use the surround capabilities of your Creative X-Fi card, you can actually replace your sound card with just these speakers. When you open up the playback devices, you'll see them listed amongst other sound hardware you have in your computer.



So, you may ask, that looks really nice, but what is the solution to the sleep problem then? Well you've just read it... remove the Creative Sound Blaster or X-Fi card from your system and replace with something else. The Logitech speakers are one possible option, but you can also use the built-in High Definition Audio Device that is present on many machines, you just need to enable it in your BIOS.

Anyway, I've never had a sleep hang since I removed the Creative card from my system and uninstalled its drivers and software (a whopping 1Gb!).

ps: You can probably apply the same fix by buying a sound card from a different manufacturer, but I'll be the first to admit that I have no experience with other companies. If you do, let us know if it fixed the Vista sleep problems so we can help others too!

Relocate saved files into excel with pdf to excel software. Here you can check out a guide to owning this software. The pdf server will save you so much time as well.  If you are using all Microsoft applications then you need the pdf to doc converter for your word files.

Labels: creative, driver, fix, Logitech, nVidia, problem, sleep, SoundBlaster, soundcard, speaker, Windows, Windows Vista, X-Fi, Z-10

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  Posted by oVan on Monday, May 21, 2007 | PermaLink | 10 comments

Vista Productivity Tip: Save To Desktop

When you download a file with Internet Explorer, and your external storage drives or network drives are offline, a lot of people quickly choose the Desktop as destination.
In Windows XP this has a limitation: when you click the Open Folder button when the download has finished, you get the rather silly message that you cannot open that folder because the file is located on the desktop. I say silly, because when you use the Windows Explorer the Desktop is an existing (virtual) folder.
Luckily Microsoft had some spare time to change this behavior: you can now click the Open Folder button and you're then greeted with a Windows Explorer view of the desktop.

Did you find other small tips & tricks? Let us know!

Labels: productivity, timesaver, tip, trick, Windows, Windows Vista

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  Posted by oVan on Thursday, May 17, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Turbocharge your installations with Inno Setup

Long time Pascal and Delphi friends surely remember Jordan Russell for the Toolbar97 and Toolbar2000 components. At that time he started a very promising application called "Inno Setup". It was an easy to configure installation program, ideally suited for the target audience (freeware and shareware authors). Years have gone by, and look who's still alive and kicking... Inno Setup.

The current implementation of Inno Setup is so powerful, it rivals many commercial installers. Here's the list of key features taken from the Inno Setup homepage:

• Support for all versions of Windows in use today: Vista, XP, 2003, 2000, Me, 98, 95, and NT 4.0. (No service packs are required.)


• Extensive support for installation of 64-bit applications on the 64-bit editions of Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. Both the x64 and Itanium architectures are supported. (On the Itanium architecture, Service Pack 1 is required to install in 64-bit mode.)


• Supports creation of a single EXE to install your program for easy online distribution. Disk spanning is also supported.


• Standard Windows 2000/XP-style wizard interface.


• Customizable setup types, e.g. Full, Minimal, Custom.


• Complete uninstall capabilities.


• Installation of files:
  
  Includes integrated support for "deflate", bzip2, and 7-Zip LZMA file compression. The installer has the ability to compare file version info, replace in-use files, use shared file counting, register DLL/OCX's and type libraries, and install fonts.


• Creation of shortcuts anywhere, including in the Start Menu and on the desktop.


• Creation of registry and .INI entries.


• Integrated Pascal scripting engine.


• Support for multilingual installs.


• Support for passworded and encrypted installs.


• Silent install and uninstall.


• Full source code is available (Borland Delphi 2.0-5.0).

Download: Inno Setup
It's a free download, and can be used free of charge even when deploying commercial applications. You are encouraged to donate to help support the development of course!

Labels: 2003, 64-bit, delphi, download, free, inno setup, installation, Itanium, pascal, Vista, Windows, x32, x64, XP

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  Posted by oVan on Friday, April 27, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Nvidia Hit With New Class Action Threat Over Windows Vista Glitches

Apparently I'm not the only one with nVidia problems on Vista:

From Bink.nu:

A New Yorker is seeking support for a class action suit against the video card manufacturer because he says drivers for the company's high-end 8800 card have caused him problems.

A new Web site seeking support for a class action suit against video card manufacturer Nvidia has appeared on the Internet.
A message on the site -- www.NvidiaClassAction.info -- asks consumers who purchased the high-end Nvidia 8800 card with the intention of installing it on Windows Vista-equipped PCs to join the proposed lawsuit.

"Nvidia said the 8800 was built for Windows Vista ... it is anything but," said Dan Goldman, the site's founder, in an interview Tuesday.

Goldman, a New York City-based investor and IT consultant, said he purchased a version of the $700 card sold by Asus International before Windows Vista was released for sale to the public at the end of January. After upgrading his computer to the new Microsoft operating system in February, and installing Nvidia drivers that were supposedly Vista compatible, "all hell broke loose," Goldman said.
Goldman's PC screen started to blank out intermittently and constantly flash an inscrutable error message that read: "Video driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has recovered."

Goldman claimed Nvidia's drivers for Windows Vista caused the problem and that the company ignored his requests for help. Now, he wants payback. "I'm entitled to damages I incurred as a result of Nvidia's misleading marketing campaign, and so are a lot of other people," he said.

Goldman, who said he spent about 100 hours unsuccessfully trying to fix the problem on this own, is in talks with three law firms in preparation for a class action suit.

Nvidia officials were not immediately available for comment.

Labels: class action, drivers, nVidia, problems, Vista, Windows

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  Posted by oVan on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

WebDevs - This Coda will make you want a Mac!

Why o why doesn't anyone make development applications so beautiful and finished on the Windows platform? I realize we have the most choice, but not many apps come as polished as this one, even for a version 1.0.

Coda – One-Window Web Development

Labels: Coda, Mac, web develoment, webdev, Windows

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  Posted by oVan on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 | PermaLink | 0 comments

Two Sidebar.exe processes running

Analysis of my log files reveal that quite a few people are looking for an answer to why there are 2 sidebar.exe processes running on Windows Vista.

The reason is simple: there's one process for the docked Sidebar at the edge of the screen, and there's another process to handle gadgets floating around on your desktop.

As to why there are two processes when you have no floating gadgets on your desktop, your guess is as good as mine. You can find this and other problems regarding the Vista sidebar in my previous post about it.

Labels: bug, problem, processes, Sidebar, sidebar.exe, Vista, Windows

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  Posted by oVan on Monday, April 23, 2007 | PermaLink | 1 comments

Free tool: Universal Extractor

Universal Extractor is a great little tool to extract files from archives (zip, rar, etc), MSI installer packages, and installation programs. In fact, the list of supported formats is quite long:

• Archive Type Common File Extension(s)


• 7-zip archive .7z, .exe


• ACE archive .ace


• ARC archive .arc


• ARJ archive .arj, .exe


• ASpack compressed file .exe


• BIN/CUE CD-ROM image .bin, .cue


• bzip2 archive .bz2, .tbz2, .tar.bz2


• CPIO compressed file .cpio


• Debian package .deb


• Encoded files .b64, .uu, .uue, .xx, .xxe, .yenc, .ntx


• Gentee package .exe


• gzip archive .gz, .tgz, .tar.gz


• IMG floppy disk image .img


• Inno Setup package .exe


• Installer VISE package .exe


• InstallShield Cabinet archive .cab, .1, .lib


• InstallShield package .exe


• ISO CD-ROM image .iso


• KGB archive .kgb, kge, .exe


• LZH compressed file .lzh, .lha


• LZW compressed file .Z, .tz, .tar.Z


• LZO compressed file .lzo


• MHTML file .mht


• Microsoft Cabinet archive .cab, .exe, .imf


• Microsoft Compiled Help file .chm


• Microsoft compressed file .??_


• Microsoft LIT e-book .lit


• Microsoft Windows Help file .hlp


• NSIS package .exe


• Outlook Express mail archive .dbx


• PEA archive .pea


• RAR archive .rar, .001, .exe


• RPM package .rpm


• SetupFactory package .exe


• SIS (SymbianOS) packages .sis


• StuffIt packages .sit


• TAR archive .tar, .tbz2, .tgz, .tz, .tar.bz2, .tar.gz, .tar.z


• UHARC archive .uha


• UPX compressed file .exe, .dll


• Windows Installer package .msi


• Windows Installer patch .msp


• Wise Installer package .exe


• ZIP archive .zip, .jar, .xpi, .wz, .exe


• Zoo archive .zoo

Download: Universal Extractor

Universal Extractor is written in AutoIt Script, a powerful freeware scripting tool. If you want to create scripts yourself, get AutoIt Script

Labels: autoit, cab, cabinet, download, extractor, free, inno setup, installer, msi, script, stuffit, universal, Windows, zip, zoo

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  Posted by oVan on Monday, April 23, 2007 | PermaLink | 1 comments

Windows Vista sleep problems, revisited

As much as I was happy with the major improvement in sleep problems with Vista, I have put my feet back on the ground. After a few good sleep/shutdown/hibernate routines, suddenly it was stuck again.

After further investigation, I suspect that the LSI controller is also responsible for some of these problems. Contrary to "simple" SATA and IDE/ATA controllers, the LSI SAS and LSI SCSI controllers need much more time to activate all drives.

When Vista goes to sleep, it signals all processes of the coming event, and gives them only 2 seconds to save whatever they want to save at that point. Furthermore, Vista keeps a second copy of the LSI SAS/SCSI driver in memory, and when the sleep event is announced, that second driver is enabled because it is needed in the startup process. Due to the nature of the SAS/SCSI driver, it has to spin up all drives again before it can put them to sleep.

So after my post about updating the nVidia drivers, I have now changed my power plan settings to not spin down the harddisks after 20 min. I will keep them running all the time, until Vista decides to put the whole computer to sleep.

A quick test revealed that the machine goes to sleep without problems using those beta nVidia drivers and all disks running. I'll report later on if the change to the power plan resulted in a (near) perfect solution.

Labels: beta, disk, driver, hibernate, LSI, LSI-Logic, nVidia, options, power, SAS, SATA, SCSI, sleep, update, Vista, Windows

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  Posted by oVan on Saturday, April 21, 2007 | PermaLink | 4 comments

FIX: How-to solve your Windows Vista Sleep problems

You've heard it before: some people rave about Windows Vista, others keep complaining. From the computers I've installed and/or upgraded so far, I can tell that it's a hit or miss operation. Either it all works out smoothly, or it goes down to hell quickly.

One of the biggest problems I've encountered so far is that the new Hybrid Sleep from Windows Vista works so good on my Dell Latitude D810 notebook, and at the same time totally made the Vista Experience worthless on a Dell Precision 650 Workstation and even on a brand new Dell Precision 690 Workstation.

Here's what goes wrong: you push the power button in the Start menu – this is by default configured to use the Sleep mode. Sometimes this works ok, other times you get a black screen, some USB-peripherals are correctly disabled but the machine itself doesn't power off (fans keep turning etc.). To make matters worse, you can't wake your pc because your USB keyboard has already been disabled.

It also occurs that while your machine apparently went to sleep without problems, it won't start up again or even if it does, it hangs on a black screen and you can't do anything to go further.

The big constants between my Precision 650 and the Precision 690 were: a SCSI controller based on the LSI Fusion MPT chipset in the 650 and the newer version SAS/SATA Raid controller from LSI in the 690; and both machines had an nVidia Quadro FX workstation graphics card (Quadro FX 500 in the PWS650, FX 550 in the PWS690).

The solutions I've tried:

1. Having tried the latest drivers for the LSI based controller, downloaded from the support websites at Dell, HP, Intel, and LSI-Logic, it didn't solve the problem. I did see controller errors in the Event Viewer that were obviously related to the sleep problem, but the most recent drivers didn't solve a thing.


2. Updated BIOS firmware for the machines, installed most recent drivers for about anything in the machine, including the latest Intel INF files. No help.


3. Changed the Power Plan settings in the Vista control panel to never sleep, but use Hibernate instead. Unfortunately this gave me the same problems.


4. Changed the BIOS settings to use agressive S1 power state instead of S3, so that more devices are disabled and more power conserved. Alas, no resolution.


5. Reset all BIOS and Power plan settings to their default. I've experienced exactly one (1) successful sleep, after that it was back to square one.


6. This gave me the working solution: I changed from the latest WHQL nVidia drivers 97.46 to the nVidia beta drivers 158.18. Despite their wonderful explanation on how to install them, it didn't work at first: my video card was not supported. No problem, I've been a supporting fan of the LaptopVideo2Go website, and they have modified INF files for about every possible nVidia driver release, both official WHQL and beta drivers. So I grabbed a copy of the modified INF for the 158.18 driver and the install went smoothly. The only problem so far is that I can't access the new nVidia control panel, other than that the system runs much more smoothly than with the 97.46 driver and Sleep mode works perfectly so far!

Time will tell if and how good it keeps working, but so far the sky is bright :-)

This obviously leads me to the conclusion that nVidia was, contrary to ATI, totally unprepared for the launch of Vista, although they've had access to the beta and RC versions for months! Just do a Google search on "Vista sleep nVidia problem"... you'll find hundreds of thousands of pages. The machines I've installed or upgraded using an ATI video card never experienced this problem, they just work out of the box. In fact, they've had an WHQL'd driver from the very (consumer) launch of Vista, while nVidia had to catch up weeks and months later.

Another company that is totally unprepared for Vista is Creative Labs, but I'll save that for a future story!

Update: here's my follow-up post about more Vista Sleep problems

Update 2: I published the third post about Vista sleep problems, in which I removed the final culprit and solved the problem completely!

Labels: ATI, creative, driver, fix, hibernate, hibernation, hybrid, INF, Microsoft, nVidia, problem, sleep, solution, Vista, Windows

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  Posted by oVan on Friday, April 20, 2007 | PermaLink | 7 comments