http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/ The best in Microsoft Windows 7 discussion, tips, support, and help. en Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:53:23 GMT vBulletin 1440 http://dna.windows7forums.com/images/misc/rss.jpg http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/ http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/240-my-top-10-windows-7-tips.html Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:54:00 GMT My Top 10 Windows 7 Tips - by Terry Blount - Windows 7 Tweaks, Tricks, Tips, Secrets, Shortcuts, Solutions and Fixes (http://win7secrets.com) 1.... My Top 10 Windows 7 Tips - by Terry Blount - Windows 7 Tweaks, Tricks, Tips, Secrets, Shortcuts, Solutions and Fixes

1. Clone your hard drive! Hard drive prices are down to 5 cents per GB, which is VERY cheap. Acronis True Image is the premium program for cloning. There are free versions for Seagate and WD hard drives on their sites. The cloning process takes about 15 minutes per 100gb. When your drive is cloned you have the simple option of changing your boot priority in your bios to be up and running in less than 90 seconds - if you have a system or primary hard drive failure. Everything is exactly as it was when you did the last clone, no software to install, nothing to setup or activate. I would say it's the closest thing to a miracle there is in protecting your data and recovering from a failure. True Image also has an option to test "stuff" and NOT change your system, unless you give it permission to save the changes. It's called Try and Decide.

2. Backup to the internet. Even if you only move between home and office you'll find it easy to attach documents to an email and shoot them off to a Yahoo or Gmail account and have them backed up and available from any computer in the world with Internet access. For larger files an FTP site is better. Your provider probably gives you a gb of webspace for a home page.

3. Google's RSS reader... I find the Google RSS reader the best time saver, by far. It's easy to setup and you can use it from any computer in the world that has Internet access. You can add RSS feeds for major news sites and all kinds of feeds, ranging from twitter, blogs, forums, jobs, price watching, etc. You will never miss anything important to you AND you'll have the time saving advantage of looking over all the headlines that may be interesting or useful in your research without wading through dozens of websites. If a headline looks good you can click to get full details. http://reader.google.com

4. Shortcuts to websites frequently used... if you like to check a few specific websites daily or bi-weekly, or just every Friday, it's a hassle to go to favorites or to saved shortcuts on the desktop and load them individually... AND they will overwrite the previous website. Instead, create a batch file that will open all your favorite websites in their own separate windows instantly like this:
*First you may have to show the file extensions so you can create a .bat file: Click "Start" and type and enter "hide file" and uncheck the box "Hide extensions for known file types."
*Right click on your desktop and select "New" "Text Document" then press enter twice. That will put you in edit mode in the txt file. Copy and paste the following lines to the text file. (Note: These links are for "hot deals" sites and forums, you can easily edit the url's to load your favorite sites.)

START /d "C:\Program Files\internet explorer" iexplore.exe SlickDeals.net Forums
START /d "C:\Program Files\internet explorer" iexplore.exe hot-deals - constantly updated with the best deals
START /d "C:\Program Files\internet explorer" iexplore.exe Woot : One Day, One Deal (SM)*Save and close. With the batch file highlighted press F2 and rename .txt to.bat (for example new text document.txt to deals.bat ) When you click on the batch file the web sites will be opened in their own IE windows.

If you only want to open one desktop shortcut link in *it's own window,* so that it doesn't overwrite other open webpages, go to "Tools" "Options" "Advanced" under "Browsing" uncheck the setting to reuse the window or tab, or open a new window.


5. Google a program named StartupMonitor and run it. It will alert you when software is trying to insert itself to load when your computer boots... and give you the option to say no. This program catches stuff almost EVERY time you install software because nearly ALL software inserts something like version checker or nagware to load and run all the time. It also shows you that EVERY time you run MS Live Messenger and some other software that is already installed, it wants to set itself up to run automatically all the time. StartupMonitor give you power over all this nonsense and frequently catches viruses and trojans that creep on via websites.

6. Click "Start" run "Msconfig" and uncheck all unwanted stuff that is loading at startup... and click "Start" and type and enter "ind" and turn OFF indexing. The search feature is plenty fast without it and you probably won't be searching for many files since documents, photos and music have their own folders that are directly accessed from the start menu.

7. I personally recommend turning off Task Manager because it runs about 150 unnecessary programs/tasks, that are automatically kicked off by various events. You will have to defrag and run a spyware program manually from time to time but that's a small price to pay because many programs, spyware, nagware and viruses are using the Task Manager to launch themselves without your permission or notification. Disabling the Task Manager will shut down this avenue for attacks and give your applications more processing power.
You can't actually turn it off. You have to rename the file so it can't be found and run at bootup. In order to gain access to rename it you have to run two commands from the command prompt. Go to the command prompt and run these 3 commands:
takeown /f c:\windows\system32\taskschd.msc /a
icacls c:\windows\system32\taskschd.msc /grant administrators:f
ren c:\windows\system32\taskschd.msc c:\windows\system32\taskschd.mscc

8. Cool tool
If you did a clean install or bought a new computer system, here is an online application that can make installing FREE software easy. Just select the software you want and it will be installed for you. About 70 applications to chose from, including Microsoft Security Essential, Ccleaner, Defraggler, WinRar and many more. Ninite Easy PC Setup - Download/Install Multiple Programs Fast

9. System File Checker - A great Windows fix tool.
Not so many people know about the System File Checker but YOU should. It checks your main system files and automatically replaces incorrect corrupted, changed, or damaged versions with the correct versions if possible.
At the risk of over-hyping it's value I'll say that it's frequently as good as re-installing your OS. I would recommend running it when you do weekly/monthly maintenance. Run it from a command prompt and when it finishes it will give a brief report. It takes a few minutes to run and it may tell you that you have to reboot to finish any repairs it needs to make.
SFC /scannow
If you get a message saying it couldn't fix some something: Load: C:\WINDOWS\LOGS\CBS\CBS.LOG in a text editor and search for "unfixable" You can take a stab at manually fixing a problem -- or if your system runs ok you can ignore it.
Two more great diag/fix features include:
Click Start and type "perfmon /report" and press enter... it takes 60 seconds to gather a comprehensive diagnostic report and then it presents resolutions.
Click Start and type and enter "ev" and it will run the Event Viewer. Look under Custom at the Administrative logs. Problems with initializing drivers are logged here at startup.

10. Save America, VOTE but do NOT vote for ANY incumbents in the next few elections. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different outcome. ]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/240-my-top-10-windows-7-tips.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/217-why-may-good-idea-partition-drive.html Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:18:22 GMT If you have visited my web page or read my blogs and messages, you'll probably know that I stongly discourage using partitions on a hard drive... mainly because if the partition table gets corrupt you lose EVERYTHING. However, check out this:

Why it may be a GOOD idea to partition a drive.
Simple answer: Because you can HIDE a partition easily and unless you know it's there no one would guess how to bring it back. Here is how to hide the partition: (Assumes you already have a partition.) Don't include quotes.
WARNING: Do not do this to a SYSTEM drive or BOOT partition.

1. Run "Diskpart" from a command prompt. It will take you into the diskpart program.
2. type and enter "list volume"
Suppose you have a partition F, it will show as NTFS format and be labeled PARTITION and is volume 3
3. type and enter "select volume 3"
4. type and enter "remove letter F"
Reboot and you won't see the partition listed.
To recover volume letter F follow the 3 steps above then ]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/217-why-may-good-idea-partition-drive.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/214-new-hard-drive-windows-7.html Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:47:59 GMT The experts agree with my strong recommendations to get a new hard drive with Windows 7 ... The experts agree with my strong recommendations to get a new hard drive with Windows 7


http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...rade,2515.html

This is from my webpage http://win7secrets.com



YOU WILL NEVER REGRET BUYING A NEW HARD DRIVE BECAUSE:

1. All hard drives eventually fail. AND most SEAGATE 7200 rpm drives fail within a few months.

Google Seagate Bricked if you have a Seagate drive... and protect your data.

2. The price is incredibly cheap now.

I've even seen deals for 1 TB drives for $50 including shipping. That's 5
cents/GB. My first "big" hard drive (30 yrs ago) was an 80 MB USED drive for
$180. That comes out to $1,000 per GB !!!

3. A new SATA 7,200 rpm drive will most-likely be bigger and faster than your old drive.

4. When Win 7 is installed and customized you can EASILY clone your new drive to your old drive.

5. You will have a working BOOTABLE backup of your old system, should there be a big problem with your Windows or you primary drive.


If you get a Western Digital or Seagate brand the WD website has a link to a FREE version if Acronis True Image that works with these hard drive brands. This is an EXCELLENT program that will clone one hard drive to another making it bootable. More on that later but you may want to take that into consideration when you make your purchase. DEFINITELY get a 7,200 rpm drive! When you run the Widows 7 performance index the hard drive USUALLY has the lowest number. Slower hard drives decrease performance significantly.


Open your system case and UNPLUG YOUR PRIMARY DRIVE (with Vista or whatever)then install the new hard drive. Boot and press "some key" to go into your bios and set the boot sequence to your usb or dvd drive and save the setting and exit. It should reboot into the Windows 7 install. Go to Custom and do the install... otherwise it will be trying to find a previous version of Windows to do an upgrade. You may have to use the tools and format the new drive first, but the install will probably prompt you if you need to do that. This is why it is very IMPORTANT to unplug your primary drive. You don't want ANY confusion about which drive you are formatting. ]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/214-new-hard-drive-windows-7.html http://windows7forums.com/entry.php?b=213 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:38:37 GMT _http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145304_ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145304 ]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/entry.php?b=213 http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/211-overclocking-i7-vs-turbo-boost.html Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:47:09 GMT http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/turbo-boost-overclocking,2512.html#xtor=RSS-182 http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...l#xtor=RSS-182 ]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/211-overclocking-i7-vs-turbo-boost.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/187-you-being-tracked.html Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:47:19 GMT Sprint Nextel provided law enforcement agencies with *customer location data* more than *8 million times* between September 2008 and October 2009 Sprint Nextel provided law enforcement agencies with customer location data more than 8 million times between September 2008 and October 2009 ]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/187-you-being-tracked.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/182-no-fluff-here-just-good-stuff.html Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:06:35 GMT This is an incredible animation video. http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs13/f/2007/077/2/e/Animator_vs__Animation_by_alanbecker.swf Second... This is an incredible animation video.

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs13/f/20...alanbecker.swf

Second funniest video



Third funniest video - if you are a geek.



Next time you think you are having a bad day, watch this.



Kick some *** boys

]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/182-no-fluff-here-just-good-stuff.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/181-increasing-range-your-wireless-network.html Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:49:00 GMT Here's a trick to increase the power of your wireless network, if you have a wired network (ethernet cables running throughout the home), you can set up a second wireless router or access point. To do this, you could buy 2 routers and turn one into an access point by disabling DHCP, connecting it by wire to your main router, and making its IP address different than the main router. Alternatively you could buy an Access Point and connect it by wire to your other router. Put each wireless device on opposite sides of the home, and configure both with the same name (wireless SSID), same wireless encryption method, and same passphrases. Both wireless hubs must be set up with the same wireless protocols (if one supports b/g and the other b/g/n, disable n on the second device). Your laptops and wireless devices will automatically use the closest router without any reconnecting downtime. ]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/181-increasing-range-your-wireless-network.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/167-network-connection-fixes.html Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:43:45 GMT 1. Click "Start" and type "Fix Net" and press enter to let windows try to diagnose and repair problems.
2. Verify network drivers are up to date for your adapter... (upgrading may
use old Vista drivers that are not compatible with 7) Click Start and type
"Device Manager" and look for any driver errors.. usually a yellow triangle.
3. Click Start and type and enter "ev" and it will run the Event Viewer. Look
under Custom at the Administrative logs. Problems with initializing drivers are
logged here at startup.
4.Click Start and type "perfmon /report" and press enter... it takes 60 seconds
to gather a comprehensive diagnostic report and then it presents resolutions.
5. Disable NORTON and all AV programs and Firewalls. Norton 360 is NOT
compatible with Win 7.
6. Reset the router and test
7. Bypass the router, connect directly to modem and test - not exactly a fix but narrows the problem.
8. Go into your device manager. (Control Panel --> Device Manager) and open up the
drop down list under Network Adapters. Find your network controller(s), right
click it (them) and uninstall. After uninstall is complete, click any other
device in your Network Adapters and choose "Scan for Hardware Changes". Windows
should automatically detect and reinstall your network controllers.
9. Go to Task Manager /services /services
and Disabled the "Function Discovery Resource Publication" service
Note: Windows 7's new "HomeGroup" connectivity requires this service.
10. Remove the Bonjour service if you have Apple/iTunes
- Click Start and enter and run this command: "C:\Program Files\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe" -remove
- Navigate to the following folder in Windows Explorer. "C:\Program Files\Bonjour"
and Rename the mdnsNSP.dll file in that folder to mdnsNSP.old
- Restart your computer and DElETE the "Program Files\Bonjour" folder

11. Fix for NVIDIA USB Enhanced Host Controller Interface (EHCI) chipset BUG
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976972

12. Cannot get IP address
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928233

13. Unidentified Network
Go to the NIC properties and uncheck these things:
-Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)
-Link Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver
-Link Layer Topology Discovery Responder
14.Make sure that all wires are connected (for example, make sure your modem is
connected to a working phone jack or cable connection, either directly or
through a router).
15.If you're trying to connect to another computer, make sure that computer is on
and that you have enabled file and printer sharing on your network. For more
information, see Networking home computers running different versions of
Windows.
16.If your computer has a wireless network adapter, Windows will automatically
detect wireless networks that are nearby. To see a list of wireless networks
that Windows has detected, click the Start button , and type "Conn" then click
Connect to netwok. If Windows does not detect a network that you think is in
range of your computer, open Help and Support and search for "Troubleshoot
problems finding wireless networks."
17. Still not working? Did you do a clean/custom install?
Upgrading frequently fails for too many reasons to list.
18. If these steps don't solve the problem, look for a specific problem in the following list.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...ction-problems ]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/167-network-connection-fixes.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/155-mcrosoft-selling-crapware-free-pcs-its-stores.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:28:24 GMT Mcrosoft selling crapware-free PCs in its stores


The computers at Microsoft Stores don't have the crapware that Windows PCs typically come with, but they still have an assortment of Microsoft and Adobe software. Most controversially, they include Windows Live Essentials and Microsoft Security Essentials.

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/new...its-stores.ars ]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/155-mcrosoft-selling-crapware-free-pcs-its-stores.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/140-11-8-09.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:00:23 GMT There is a new, really tricky, Trojan making it's rounds. It places "Warning! Fatal error:" wallpaper on your desktop and if you select the Update Now option... well you just don't want to do that. The threat level is Critical. If you click on the “Update Now” button, you will automatically start the installation of WinCodecPRO, which is a hazardous application and should be avoided at all costs.

There is a removal tool from Pctools.com here:
http://remove-malware.net/spyware-do...omatic-remover
But as I have already mentioned, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.
Read on...

The Trojan replaces a system file called wextract.

wextract.exe is a program in \windows\system32 that extracts the files inside of a cab file are further compressed. For example, a .dll or a .exe file may be
listed as .dl_ or.ex_. This is where the extract utility comes in. You can't
just use winzip to extract the file as it would still be in it's own compressed
state, ie; .dl_ or.ex_ when "unzipped" by winzip. You run the extraction utility
to "pull" it from the .cab file into it's full expanded state.

Since there are no essential .CAB files on your hard drive, this program would
probably never be called...even by SFC to restore files. Here is what I did.. first I copied it to \windows because \windows is also in the path and should something need it, it may find it as long as it's somewhere in the system's path.

Copy \windows\system32\wextract.exe \windows

Now you have to remove the trusted installer restrictions so you can rename
it or delete it from the \windows\system32 folder with these two commands.

takeown /f c:\windows\system32\wextract.exe /a

icacls c:\windows\system32\wextract.exe /grant administrators:f

Now you can use windows explorer and go to \windows\system32 and rename it.

After it's renamed you can create a New Folder in \windows\system32 and
name it wextract.exe ... making it impossible for the Trojan to install.
This may cause SFC to be confused because it won't be able to
restore wextract.exe .. but the virus won't be able to drop the Trojan
either.

What is "path" ?

In the early days when software was installed manually, this was critical because if you did not put it in a folder that is listed in your path, or
INCLUDE the program's folder in the path, windows could not find it and you
could never get it to run. The install routine of almost all software today
sets the path in the shortcut so you don't have to worry about windows finding it.

The best way to understand path is to imagine you are a carpenter and you have an new assistant. When you tell him to get the saw he goes away for 20 mins then comes back and says he couldn't find it. So you have to set some ground rules. You'll tell him that when you want a tool, first look in the room you are working in, then in the toolbox in the last room you worked and if he can't find it, go to the service truck and look. If he doesn't find it there come right back and tell you.

This saves a LOT of time if the tool was lost of left at home. When you tell windows to run xyz.exe the "path" is the list of locations to check before it comes back and tells you it's not found. If you didn't have a path windows would have to check every file on the computer before it gave up.

~~~~~

Test of 16 Anti-Virus Products Says None Rates "Very Good"
None of the products performed “very good” in malware removal or removal of leftovers, based on those 10 samples. eScan, Symantec and Microsoft (MSE) were the only products to be good in removal of malware AND removal of leftovers",
http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=1137 ]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/140-11-8-09.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/138-11-7-09.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:59:51 GMT Ounce of prevention... The old saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is a huge understatement when it comes to dealing with... Ounce of prevention...
The old saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is a huge understatement when it comes to dealing with virus threats.
Virus detection programs do just THAT... they DETECT viruses that have already infected your system. Some AV programs run all the time and monitor your files and will detect a virus infection EARLY... and most virus can then be removed. HOWEVER, there are some really NASTY viruses that can NOT be removed and formatting your system and starting over from scratch is the ONLY option you have. In these cases, EARLY is NOT soon enough.

Almost every virus strain uses a different entry point to install itself and access your computer so it's impossible for anyone to develop a method to totally safeguard a computer. Most often you have to be "tricked" into executing a program that contains virus code. We know the obvious methods such as email file attachments, cracks and hacks from warez websites. Links to cute little animation cards and such, websites that popup a notice that you MUST download their viewer (or whatever) to access their site, view their media etc. Be smart and evaluate the risk of satisfying your curiosity.
Some viruses find their way to your computer through other infected computers on over a network. These are the most difficult to prevent if you MUST be connected to other computers.

Ok.. now that I'm scared is there anything I can do?

Some of the most nasty viruses use a file they add called winlogonN.exe
Notice the extra N. Winlogon.exe is a critical system file that is called at startup... even in safe mode... which makes it a prime target for viruses. Obviously a virus maker would want to activate the virus before the system can get to the point it loads any AV program that may catch or block it. Fortunately the file protection in Windows 7 called TrustedInstaller makes it rather difficult to modify, overwrite, delete or rename winlogon.exe... but I'm not saying it can't be done.

Some virus programs use the trickery of using a similar name. A simple way to prevent this is to prohibit the virus from creating/copying a file named winlogonn.exe... but how is that possible? It's possible because the windows file system does NOT allow a FILE ... AND.. a FOLDER to share the same name. If you create a FOLDER named winlogonn.exe in your \windows\system32 folder.... you can not create a FILE named winlogonn.exe in the windows\system32 folder.

Is that confusing? Just create a new folder in Windows\system32 and name it winlogonn.exe ...then if a virus wants to drop a file named winlogonn.exe ... it won't be allowed.

This method can get rid of a lot of pesky viruses that keep coming back. For example, a common, rather harmless virus uses a file it drops called b.exe in the Windows folder. If you create a folder named b.exe in your windows folder... it can't come back.

You can also use this trick to prevent a folder from being created if you create the file name first.

Here is some info on a very evil virus you want to avoid at all cost. http://blog.trendmicro.com/virux-cases-escalate/

The damages viruses can cause is another reason to have an extra drive and to keep your clean healthy system cloned to it.
And another reason to run StartupMonitor.
And another reason to turn off the Task Scheduler.
And another reason to be very cautions about running anything you didn't download yourself from a legitimate website.

~~~~~

Problem: I don't like my start menu and All Programs. How can I customize it?

Solution: Right click on Start and go to Properties and uncheck the boxes to display recently opened... Now you have a lot of open space in your Start menu to PIN the programs you want quick access to. You won't have to open All Programs unless you want to run something you seldom use. You can also Sort the pinned shortcuts according to your liking.

Advanced tip: You can't pin a folder or even a shortcut to a folder to your start menu like you can pin exe files to start menu or taskbar. BUT here is a tick... right click on a folder, use "send to" to create a shortcut on the desktop. Then put the shortcut in a permanent folder. Now open the folder the shortcut is in and drag it to start menu and drop it. NOW it's pinned to the Start menu.

~~~~~

Cool tool

If you did a clean install or bought a new computer system, here is an online application that can make installing FREE software easy. Just select the software you want and it will be installed for you. About 70 applications to chose from, including Microsoft Security Essential, Ccleaner, Defraggler, WinRar and many more.
http://ninite.com/

~~~~~

Delete email from server after Live Email runs

By default Live email does not delete email from your email provider. Eventually your mail box will get FULL and you will say "WTF, where is my spam?" Finding this option is confusing because it's under individual email accounts. To set it to delete your email after downloading, right click on your email account name -over inbox. Select Properties, Advanced then uncheck the box that says leave copy on server. I will attach an image.
Note: You still need to log onto your email server online and delete the email that has been left since you installed Live Email. Flipping the switch only starts deleting from that time forward.

~~~~~

Car finder is an app for the iPhone 3GS that helps you find your parked car.
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/04...app-for-i.html

~~~~~
Super Talent Announces First USB 3.0 Flash Drive, Transfers at 320 MB/s
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computi...rs-at-320-mbs/

~~~~~

Smell of Fear

Evidence that the smell of fear is real was uncovered by US scientists last year who studied the underarm secretions of 20 terrified novice skydivers and found that people appear to respond unconsciously to the sweat smell of a frighteneda person. Now the Telegraph reports that researchers hope a "fear detector" will make it possible to identify terrorist at check points.

~~~~~

Next time you think you are having a bad day, watch this.
]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/138-11-7-09.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/112-10-26-09.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:41:08 GMT How to upgrade Windows 7 rc to rtm

Microsoft doesn't want you to do it but you can. I suppose they want to make sure you don't upgrade the pre release bugs... then call them for help.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/3075/...s-7-rc-to-rtm/

~~~~~

Microsoft rips off Unetbootin

If you read my blogs you probably know that there is a great FREE utility that will create a bootable usb flash drive with the Windows 7 install on it. I also discussed how to use it to build a bootable Win 7 install from the downloaded Upgrade files.

Microsoft has released a tool that lets netbook owners install Windows 7 on their machines using a USB flash drive, sidestepping the usual requirement of a DVD drive.

The free utility, Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, creates a bootable flash drive from a downloaded .iso file, or disk image, of Windows 7 that customers buy and download from Microsoft's online store.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...ource=rss_news

I suppose Microsoft is trying to deal with the shortage of install disks they pressed. They have the Professional version on pre order.

What's even more astonishing... when you call Microsoft to order the Professional version they recommend you buy the Home Premium version.

How stupid is that? Even the gas stations know to tell everyone they are out of regular and they only have premium after every hurricane. Why doesn't Microsoft recommend you buy the Ultimate version? Apparently the "heads" went on vacation when they finished Windows 7 and sent it to press.... and left the minions to run the show.

What is the world coming to.. first Miley Sirus stops updating to Tweeter and now Microsoft is out of copies of Windows 7? Oh Lord! Help us!

~~~~

Here is a reg tweak to remove the delay when you mouse over the open programs tabs on the task bar:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
;remove aero mouse over delay
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse]
"MouseHoverTime"="0"

~~~~~

Windows memory management Vista vs. Windows 7
Opening 70 windows on identical systems side by side under Vista and Win 7
Viddler.com - Windows 7 memory managment - Uploaded by engadget@@AMEPARAM@@http://www.viddler.com/player/1179b33e/@@AMEPARAM@@1179b33e/

~~~~~

In my last blog I mentioned the potential energy savings that upgrading to Windows 7 could make.

Today I read that pets (cats and dog) add 2 to 4% to their owner's electric bills. That surprised me.... some folks must be using a hair dryer - a lot - to "fluff" Fluffy. Anyway I read that the average US household pays about $1,500 per year to their electric company.... unless you are the famous environmentalist/energy saver Al Gore who's electric bill is 20 times the average - $30,000 a year.

Where was I? Oh yeah... I was looking at headlines in my Rss reader and found a book titled: Save the planet, eat your pet.

The book claims that pet dogs are bad for the environment and suggests that dog owners should consider doing without, downsizing or even eating their pets to help save the planet. I don't think they actually want anyone to eat Spot but they suggest pet owners swap cats and dogs for creatures they can eat, such as chickens or rabbits.

They say an average dog eats 360 pounds of meat and 209 pounds of cereals a year, giving it a high impact on the planet. But a pair of rabbits can produce 36 young annually, which would provide 159 pounds of meat and help decrease the owner's carbon footprint.

The book also states that owning a pair of hamsters leaves the same carbon footprint as running a plasma television. By the way... California legislators have proposed a ban on energy-hogging HDTVs starting in 2011. Maybe they'll include an exemption if you agree to roast your hamsters... and flush your goldfish.

This breaks my heart.. now we can go to jail for watching TV AND for not paying the $750 Obama health tax fine they are trying to pass.
How did I get so far off topic? I guess this is my blog so ANYTHING that is swirling around in my head is ON topic? I know you are wondering... why doesn't he "grey out" these kinds of comments.

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Money tip - Prescription Drugs and Insurance

If you need 90 days of pills, but your insurer covers only 30 days, ask your doctor to substitute "take as directed" instead of "take once a day" on the prescription form.

That makes it hard for the insurance company to calculate how many pills comprise a 30-day supply. You'll be able to get the full 90-day supply filled. (Make sure YOU know how often to take the medication.) ]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/112-10-26-09.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/107-10-25-09.html Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:55:22 GMT The major cause of problems when UPDATING from Vista to Windows 7 are programs like Antivirus, Firewalls, and the dozen or so programs that are... The major cause of problems when UPDATING from Vista to Windows 7 are programs like Antivirus, Firewalls, and the dozen or so programs that are loading when the system boots up. Save yourself a LOT of headaches and turn them all off and run Msconfig and uncheck all the boxes under startup. Then reboot and do the update. There are far less problems from people who do a clean install... where the hard drive is formatted first and Windows 7 is installed from the Custom menu after booting to the install disk. After the system is setup it can be customized to load programs automatically at startup. It's a really good idea to setup 2 or 3 programs then reboot and verify they aren't causing any failures. If you install too many, you won't have a clue about which ones are causing the problems.

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The Upgrade version of Windows is actually a FULL version... it just doesn't boot without help, AND ANY Upgrade version will install ANY version of Windows 7 -- Home to Ultimate.

If you have downloaded the Upgrade version of Windows 7 (like students
with .edu email address are getting for $30) you can put the files in your "expandedsetup" folder into an iso with a program with a program like UltraISO. Then...

* Download UNetbootin tool (free) from here: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/pro...indows-357.exe

* Run the tool, and browse to the ISO image file and click OK. Verify it has selected the correct drive letter of your USB and click OK. That’s all!
It takes about 15 minutes to finish. (Remember the boot sequence in your bios must be set to use the USB first when you are ready to install.) Windows installs in about half the time from USB... even the cheap ones read about 25 kb/s ...while dvd reads about 5 kb/s. If the USB will not boot it's probably because the usb device you used is not high enough quality. I have some that will and some that won't. Jetflash will work.

After you have created the bootable usb with the Upgrade version of win 7 you can simply put the usb device into any computer -- set the bios to boot to it and go to CUSTOM install and install Windows 7 to a clean/new/formatted hard drive like the full version does. If you have deleted ei.cfg, when you install it will ask you which version you want to install. If you bought a key to a lesser version you can't register/activate a higher version, such as Ultimate.
There is another method to directly convert the files into a bootable iso which can be burned to disk. But the method dos not work for many people and I couldn't get it to work.

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A lesser known feature in Windows 7 will save fortune 500 companies millions
Windows 7 uses 17% less energy than Vista and XP.

A typical household computer consumes $405 electricity per year. %17 reduction saves almost $70 per year PER computer... if you have 3 computers you could save over $200 per year to upgrade to Windows 7... so you would actually PROFIT at least $50 after paying $150 for the Windows 7 family pack.
If you paid the energy bills for a company that runs 7,000 computers you energy bills could drop by a HALF MILLION dollars per year if they were upgraded to Windows 7.

Many companies are replacing incandescent safety signs with self-sustaining fire (exit) safety signs and saving over $35 a year PER SIGN. That's $3,500 per year for 100 signs. If the entire nation (USA) changed over to this technology for the exit signs... it would save 70 million dollars a year in energy costs.
I wonder... are there more computers or more exit signs?
~~~~~

I'll give anyone a FREE computer monitor if you can find any download / internet accelerator that makes ANY increase in speed in Windows 7. Yeah.. you have to pay shipping and that would be more than an older ctr monitor is worth. But Maybe I got your attention. BECAUSE I have tested SEVERAL download accelerator programs throughly and not one make any difference.
Sure they can "fake" you into thinking they improve performance but I can do that without a program... just give me $29. Ok.. I'll show you how they trick you... first they show you the baseline test by doing something like displaying 50 images on a web page in 10 seconds. Then you run their program and do the test again.... what a surprise! It only took 2 seconds for the 50 images to load. The trick is that they are already download in your temp files folder and don't have to be downloaded again.

Another example: go to Youtube and find something that runs about 2 minutes.. like Elvis Heartbreak Hotel. Load it and wait till it starts and you can hear the song/music. Time how long it takes for the pink line (that runs ahead of your position in the video) to get to the end showing the video is fully loaded. It probably it takes 30 to 45 seconds to load the 2 minute song. Now click refresh in your browser.. Wow was that fast! It downloaded the entire song INSTANTLY in your new "test." Obviously your browser had stored the entire video in the temp files and didn't download it again.
Please prove me wrong. I will give you credit if you do.
~~~
Working with the Windows Registry
http://mintywhite.com/windows-7/7sec...dows-registry/

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They claim this is a photo smuggled out of North Korea of an amusement arcades ... but I'm suspicious... it looks to me more like it's "go to work with daddy" day at the North Korean Nuclear launch facility.
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/10/22/rare-photos-of-north.html

Now you got to admit I got a great sense of humor to come up with that!

~~~~~~

Obama' election causes testerone drop in men
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/10/22/testosterone-levels.html

~~~~~

These ladies knock it out of the park... wow what a duet!
]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/107-10-25-09.html http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/105-10-21-09.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:59:55 GMT When anyone reports a problem with delayed startups and shutdowns the first suggestion is to check that "Administratitive Logs" Under Event Viewer / Custom Views

These logs show errors with drivers and hardware.

Atikmdag Error FINALLY resolved.

I've been pestered by this error in my Administrator log under Event Viewer for 3 months and I FINALLY found the Ati drivers that fixed it:
http://www.filehippo.com/download_at...vista_64/tech/
http://uploadbox.com/files/ab1b846f50/

~~~~~
I always had this warning about Wireless Lan Autoconfig

"WLAN AutoConfig service has successfully stopped"

What happens is when the WLAN Autoconfig service is on? It automatically searches for a better wireless connection every 60 seconds. If you are a gamer you will SEE the delay... and probably get KILLED... during the freeze that is temportarily encountered.

I don't use a wireless router so I disabled this service under Administrative tools / services However....

It still logged the error message so I found this utility and made sure it wasn't starting turned off the background scans and it seems to have resolved that problem.
http://www.martin-majowski.de/wlanoptimizer/

~~~~~

Microsoft Free Download

Deploying Windows® 7 Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...c-7e962f0b6030

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"Buy Windows 7: Get Six Weeks of Your Life Back."

Pretty good agrument for upgrading to Windows 7

Let's see if I can sum up the article.... the author spends 54 hrs a week on his computer -- at least four minutes per hour on average was spent unproductively waiting for Vista to do something -- to regain its Wi-Fi connection, to clear me as an administrator for some critical process, to refresh a directory listing, to reboot a crashed Internet Explorer, to cancel a search that became lost in a forest of meaninglessness, or to decide again that the monitor on my laptop was the only monitor on that laptop.

He sez: I've gained back some 385 hours of productivity per year.
That's over six weeks of work.

http://www.betanews.com/article/Wind...rap/1256137973

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My argument for runnig Windows 7

Do this... open a command prompt and run this command:

Winsat mem

I got 15427.87 MB/s with 3 GB DDR3 and I7 processor.

I don't know what it reports under Vista but Win 7 is better designed to take advantage of multi-core multi-thread processing. Device Manager / processor show I have 8 processors running. That's why video editing is done in less than half the time under Win 7 with I7 processors.

~~~~~

However, it looks like we have plenty time to waste:
8 Billion minutes DAILY are spent on facebook
8 billion minutes = 15,211 years

~~~~~

Windows 7 Freebies: Where to Get Giveaways
Roundup from: CompUSA, Office Depot, Staples and Microsoft

http://www.pcworld.com/article/17407...ml?tk=rss_news

~~~~~

Be dazzled


Hitler woule be amazed


Speaking of Hitler... it seems he got worked up
Hilarious and clever. Well done.

Balloon Boy Hoaxes Hitler
]]> tblount http://windows7forums.com/blogs/tblount/105-10-21-09.html