Download Windows 7 ISO from Microsoft

There are times you loses your Windows 7 machine and you will need to find some way to resinstall it, but then you realized you have no Windows 7 CD!

Well, that has been a problem and it is finally solved now when you can legally download the Windows 7 ISO from Microsoft and not from other other unverified sources where you might be installing spyware to your system.

Simply go to this website and key in your CDKEY and you are all ready to download it!
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery

Shivers : Vanishing Hitchhiker Theme

I had created a theme using the build in wallpaper from the game Shivers : Vanishing Hitchhikers for people who would want to have it change every 30 minutes automatically in Windows 7 and Vista. Enjoy.

Download : http://www.fileserve.com/file/tqWSrcW

Remember. Copyright still goes to the original creator.

Upgrading Windows 7 SP1 Beta to RTM / Final

Now that the final version of the Windows 7 / Windows 2008 Service Pack 1 is available to everyone, you may want to install that. However, for those who had installed the BETA, you may realized that when you ran hte update, it just said that the updated had already been installed (or something similar).

If you compare the beta file and the final file, there will be a few hundred MB of difference (depending on which version). That probably mean if you keep the BETA, you will be missing those hundreds of MB of patches. So my best advice is to uninstall the BETA. However, where will you get the information to uninstall? You will only get it when you manage to get to the first installation screen in the help link.

So here you are, I had copied the instruction out here:

To uninstall SP1:

1. Click the Start button, click Control Panel, and then click Programs.
2. Under Programs and Features, click View installed updates.
3. On the Uninstall an update page, click Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB976932), and then click Uninstall.
4. Follow the instructions on your screen.

So here you go. Go ahead to uninstall the BETA, then it will reboot and reboot again before you can cleanly install the new RTM or Final.

Autocomplete in Windows 7

It is sometimes so often that we forgotten the good stuff in Windows 7. UNTIL some other application decided to cripple it. Among those are the antivirus and the privacy tools. One of the very useful feature, well at least for a home PC, is the autocomplete. It certainly save time and typing to locate files and avoid typos.

Recently, I had one of my machine locked down to the state that this feature is actually gone. You won't miss it until you no longer have it. So poking around, I found a solution to re-enable it.

Simply open regedit (UAC prompt) and do this:

1. Goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > AutoComplete
2. On the right, you will see 2 obvious options. But here is the explanation anyway...

• Append Completion set to “yes” will automatically append or complete the file name as you type, if there is a file that match.
• AutoSuggest set to “yes” will automatically suggest a list of files in the folder that match what you had typed so far in Save As Dialog box.

Simple enable one or both of the option to turn Autocomplete back on.

Pictures.library-ms / Music.library-ms / Video.library-ms / Document.library-ms is no longer working

It sound crazy, but there is a very simple solution to this. Basically, open up your explorer and click on "Libraries" on the left side menu. Now you should see the four links on your right. Hightlight them and delete them away.

Oops, all gone. Do not worry, the content is safe. It just remove the link away. Now highlight "Libraries" on the left again and right click. Select "Restore Default Libraries".

Thats all to it. Restore any other links in your libraries if you have them.

Microsoft XP Mode no longer needs virtualized hardware

For a while, people using the cheaper end quad core Intel Q series processor find themselves unable to install Windows 7's XP Mode due to a hardware requirement for the VT technology.
While VT speeds up the virtualization using hardware, by no means it is impossible to purely run on software especially if you have quad core or more.

Fortunately, Microsoft had finally realized this and had enabled the option to run XP Mode WITHOUT the VT Technology. This is shown in the 3rd button when you attempt to download Microsoft Virtual PC via:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

This is indeed a great news to many including myself who has more than a few Intel Q8200 around.

Bullguard silent update solve Homegroup and Sharing issue

Bullguard had release a silent update somewhere in the past week or so what resolved the sharing of the Windows 7 Homegroup and share folders on x64 systems.

Well, at least they could had made an announcement. It just "automagically" worked when I click one of the sharing link by mistake.

Acronis should not be used to create and format drive for Windows Vista and Vista 7

I know this sound funny, lets go back to where it all begins.

First, I got hold of a vanilla machine which comes with the default vendors OS plus one HDD with 1 partition. OK, not entirely true, the OS was downgraded from Vista to XP and the vendor actually have a recovery partition in addition to the normal OS partition. So, if you know me enough, I would love to have Windows 7 on this. And I may not want to kill the original OS. And to make things worth, in this environment, its not OK to burn CD/DVD or use a USB device.

Firstly, we got to make another partition for the new OS. So a few tools comes into my mind. Hiren. Nope, its a boot disc. OK, so we need one that can either work inline or via a reboot shell. Acronis Disk Director 10 was available. So here we have. I reboot and resize the parition and make a new partition for the new OS. The critical mistake I made was I created and formatted the new partition in Acronis. Fatal.

But there were no tell tale sign that something was wrong. Windows 7 can be installed without extracting the files. Just mount the ISO with Alcohol or Daemon Tool, then install to the new partition. Everything went smoothly. Until I started to use Windows 7 and many application starts to give warning error about corruption. One such message came from Live Messenger "MSNMSGR.EXE - File Corrupt". Using chkdsk /f, I manage to find lots of MFT and BITMAP errors. I thought fixing it with solve all the problem. After some reboot, more usage, the error came back again and again. I just could figure out what went wrong.

Now, lets take a look at this thread:
http://board.iexbeta.com/lofiversion/index.php/t63381.html

It seems that such problem exist as far as 2006 and these folk found the answer in 2008. And after 2 years later, I splatter all over the wall with this issue. After some chkdsk /r and reinstall, repair startup option etc, I final found the problem. It is Acronis. Apparently, it create a non-standard partition which create problem for newer OS such as Vista and Windows 7. To fix this, I will have to lose my new partition by removing it, then delete the partition and have Windows Disk Manager to recreate the partition. Everything went smoothly after which.

Although Acronis Disk Director was released in 2007, I believe Microsoft and Acronis should issue a incompatibility warning for this. It could had save me lots of time. I guess both parties probably at some point of time point fingers and did not want to highlight this problem, but I just hope no one else have to hard the wall so I posted this here.

8 Common Issues in Windows 7 Migrations

Technet has published an article about 8 common issues with migration to Windows 7. Many of which you should had avoided if you had gone through hardware upgrades and Vista. So, in a way, this truly benefit those who had kept in touch.

Read more from:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee652552.aspx

Epson TX100 New Windows 7 drivers does not work with Vista

In a previous post, I mentioned the release of new Windows 7 drivers for the Epson TX100:

http://nemesisv.blogspot.com/2009/10/epson-tx100-new-drivers-with-full.html

what I failed to notice was that the Epson scan program (v3.4.9) only list Windows 7 compatibility. So what happen to Vista? I tried to installed it and every time it started, it crashes. At first I thought it was me. So I uninstalled clean and reinstall it. Same thing happened.

I cannot find the download online anymore, but I managed to find my previous files. So, I reinstalled the older version for Vista (v3.4.3a) and it works perfectly. I guess in moving ahead, Epson either has branched out the codes or totally forgotten that they still need to support Windows Vista.

Do take note of this. If you had installed and crashed and needed a old copy of the installation, let me know, maybe I can put it online.

Windows 7 launches in Singapore at $77

For the first 177 buyer anyway. It is the Home Premium upgrade version.
Read more at:
http://www.yourpcsimplified.com/events.aspx

But I am sure some of you already got it for months. So its nothing new.

5 New OS from Microsoft

With Windows 7 on the blink of release (its actually RTM...), Microsoft actually has 5 new OS up their sleeves:

1. Windows 8 (Windows 7 Successor)
2. Windows Midori (Written entirely in managed code)
3. Windows Singularity (Basically the same as Windows Midori)
4. Windows Azure (Cloud Computing OS)
5. Barrelfish (Multicore OS)

Windows 8 being the biggest hype. With a new filesystem and totally gone with Windows Explorer, is Windows 8 what we had been waiting for? Btw, there are already lots of fake alpha on torrent site. ALL fake. I doubt any Windows 8 alpha will be out soon since its schedule for 2011. Yes, thats a bit too fast to phase out Windows 7. But well, there are companies still using Windows XP...

Microsoft Security Essentials Launches!

On Sep 29, finally Microsoft launches the release final version of codename "Morro" or Microsoft Security Essentials. As mentioned before, this "black horse" had gotten first in VB100 and detects 97.8% of the viruses from AV-Test.org. And its FREE. Do you still want to buy another product. Well, maybe. Because MS Security Essentials does not have a firewall. However, Windows does have a reasonable one.

MS Security Essentials supports Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

There is no full download links yet, but it will appear in a few hours.

Windows 7 RTM (RTL) is available on Technet and MSDN

As mentioned at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/default.aspx

Microsoft has released Windows 7 RTM (Release to Manufacturer) To MSDN users. Under their download, they will see the RTL (Retail) version of Windows 7 as a downloadable link.

Depending on the subscription, MSDN or Technet may have access to these starting from 6th August:

Windows 7 Enterprise (x64) - DVD (English)
Windows 7 Enterprise (x86) - DVD (English)
Windows 7 Professional (x64) - DVD (English)
Windows 7 Professional (x86) - DVD (English)
Windows 7 Ultimate (x64) - DVD (English)
Windows 7 Ultimate (x86) - DVD (English)
Windows 7 Home Basic (x86) - DVD (English)
Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) - DVD (English)
Windows 7 Home Premium (x86) - DVD (English)
Windows 7 Starter (x86) - DVD (English)
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Debugging Symbols Checked Build (x64) - (English)
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Debugging Symbols (x64) - (English)
Windows 7 Debugging Symbols Checked Build (x86) - (English)
Windows 7 Debugging Symbols (x86) - (English)
Windows Driver Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (English)
Windows Software Development Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86) - DVD (English)
Windows Software Development Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (ia64) - DVD (English)
Windows Software Development Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64) - DVD (English)
Windows 7 Language Pack (x86) - DVD (Multiple Languages)
Windows 7 Language Pack (x86) - DVD (Chinese-Traditional)
Windows 7 Language Pack (x64) - DVD (Multiple Languages)
Windows 7 Language Pack (x64) - DVD (Chinese-Traditional)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (English)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Spanish)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Japanese)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (German)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (French)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Italian)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Russian)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Chinese-Simplified)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Portuguese-Brazil)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Dutch)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Polish)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Turkish)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Korean)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Chinese-Traditional)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Czech)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Portuguese-Portugal)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Hungarian)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Swedish)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Danish)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Norwegian)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Finnish)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Arabic)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Hebrew)
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD (Greek)

Windows Home Server PP3 Beta Supports Windows 7

Windows 7 is already well on the way, 7.7600.386 is rumored as the voted RTM. And we are looking at Oct 22 as the first day release. WHS is not taking this any slower as PP3 gears up and prepare for the support for Windows 7.

Here is the current breakdown of the beta which already support Windwos 7 RC:

•Windows 7 Compatibility Enhancements
◦Windows 7 Libraries integration: When you install the Windows Home Server Connector and log on a Windows 7 computer, you can access the Windows Home Server shares from Windows 7 libraries.
◦Windows 7 Action Center backup warning suppression: After you install the Windows Home Server Connector and enable the home server backup on your Windows 7 computer, you will not receive the warning from the Action Center which reminds that Windows Backup has not been set up.
◦Windows 7 power settings: You can configure your Windows 7 client computer to wake up at scheduled backup time and be put back to sleep after backup finishes.
◦Windows Search: Windows Search 4 has been included to improve query search times, indexing times and reliability. Extended remote discovery increases the efficiency of searching across all your libraries running Windows Search 4. Files encrypted with Encrypting File System (EFS) are now supported.
•Home Computer Backup & Restore Enhancements
◦File and computer restoration: Helps prevent the issue experienced when restoring files and folders from a Home Computer Backup that stops at 81 or 97 percent complete.
◦Reliability: Improved handling of temporary files helps to ensure necessary system files are backed up more reliably. Improvements to the backup repair process.
•Home Server Console Enhancements
◦Support for low resolution displays: This update enables the Windows Home Server Console to support low-resolution displays. The lowest resolution that is supported after you apply this update is 1024 x 600.
◦This update enables Windows 7 to be properly displayed as the operating system shown in the Computers & Backup tab.
•Windows Media Center Enhancements
◦TV Archive: Enables automatic archiving of recorded TV by moving your recordings from a Windows Media Center computer to your home server in the format of your choice. This enables playback in the correct format for your home computers and/or portable devices.
◦Console View: Allows you to see information about your home server’s storage space, drives, backup status, etc. from Windows Media Center.

Full articles with pictures:
http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2009/07/17/windows-home-server-power-pack-3-beta-includes-enhancements-for-windows-7-based-computers.aspx

Download:
https://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer

Gigabyte Ultra Durable 3 supports Windows 7

See it all at:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/WebPage/mb_090522_windows7/tech_090522_windows7.htm

In particular, EX58-UD3R has Windows 7 Logo Certification!

Roboform and IE8

During the testing of Windows 7, I noticed that the password manager I was using worked perfectly. This is Roboform.

More information:
http://www.roboform.com/features.html

Honestly, there are simply too many password to remember these days and changing all of them to a few similar ones is highly not recommended either. Therefore the user of password manager is one of the way to go about keeping track of your thousands of passwords.

Roboform offer both free and pro mode. There is a limit to the number of password you can store in the free mode. However, once started, I find myself hard to pull away from this. In fact I rely so much of this for many of the complex passwords. Roboform also offers a runtime only portable version in U3, USB portable application, portableapps, Windows mobile etc. This makes the password database portable to my many devices. Oh, of course the password is stored encrypted as well.

Roboform has been tested working in both IE8 and Windows 7.

Windows 7 RC Build 7048

There are already some torrent sites listing this leaked version of the RC of Windows 7. I am not sure how that will work, especially when it comes to the CD-Key management. However, do rest assure that there is indeed a Build 7048 RC which will be coming soon (although it was promised for late Feb 2009).

For the meantime, enjoy these 100 screen shots from Softpedia of the RC1 of Windows 7:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-7-Build-7048-100-Screenshots-Gallery-106289.shtml

Virtual Drive Software for Windows 7

I used to be a great fan of Alcohol 52% and Daemon Tool. However, I just realized that due to the SPTD driver (http://www.duplexsecure.com/downloads), it will not install properly in Windows 7. Well to be fair, it kinda installed. but Windows 7 could never detect it was installed. As a result, Alcohol 52% keep trying to install this and does not go on...

There may be another tool thats works, but I am going to recommend using Gizmo Drive for now:
http://arainia.com/software/gizmo/overview.php?nID=4

Gizmo Drive does something similar. It can make and mount images for more popular formats. Unfortunately, it does not has the copy protection features in Alcohol and Daemon Tool.

Until any of these can fix the Windows 7 problem, I guess we can use Gizmo Drive for now. Btw, its a freeware too.

Jeyo Mobile Extender and Windows 7 (Firewall)

Jeyo Mobile Extender allows you to sync and send SMS as if they are email using Outlook. In fact, its a good SMS backup tool as well for your PDA / Windows Mobile.

More info:
http://www.jeyo.com/extender.asp

However, there seems to be a problem detecting the mobile device in Windows 7. I did some check and eventually found out that it was due to a firewall issue in Windows 7. So, this probably only affect people who are using Windows 7 default firewall. However, if you do encounter such an issue, you can try this out on your 3rd party firewall as well.

Taken from:
http://www.everythingq.com/forum/software/jeyo-mobile-extender-windows-7-cannot-connect-30819.html

Overview:
Add an Inbound Rule in Windows Firewall for outlook.exe, protocol TCP and port 9035.

Details:
Open Control Panel
Open Windows Firewall
Click Advanced Settings
Select Inbound Rules

From the Menu, select New Rule
Rule Type -> Custom
Program -> %Program Files% (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office 12\OUTLOOK.EXE (or wherever your Outlook.exe is)
Protocol and Ports -> Protocol type: TCP, Local Port -> Specific Port: 9035
Scope: Which remote IP address does this rule apply to? These IP address -> Predefined set of computers -> Local subnet
Action: Allow the connection
Profile: Uncheck Domain and Public
Name: Jeyo Mobile Extender