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Posts Tagged ‘vista’

Downgrading from WMP 12 to 11 in Windows 7

October 20th, 2009 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | View Comments | Filed in How Tos

Windows Media Player 12 in Windows 7 has a new UI that doesn’t include as many sleek transparency features as WMP 11 did, and Microsoft also for some reason removed the Advanced Tag Editor, one of my favorite features because my WMP Custom Album Art tutorial uses it, and because you can edit a whole albums tags in batch.

I see no real benefit to using Windows Media Player 12, as Windows Media Player 11 seems, at least to me, to be a much more well-rounded, and better looking too, music / video organizer and player.

How to install Windows Media Player 11 onto Windows 7:

  1. Go to the start menu, type services.msc and hit enter.

  2. Stop the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service.

  3. Install this registry edit (zipped): Take Ownership Context Menu Hack.

  4. Now take ownership of these items by selecting them in Windows Explorer and then right-clicking them and selecting Take Ownership in the context menu:All files in “Program Files\Windows Media Player\” folder
    All files starting with “wmp” in System32 folder
    wmploc.dll.mui in “System32\en-us\” folder.

  5. Download Windows Media Player 11 for Windows 7 and install. If you get an error message saying that wmploc.dll.mui is in use by a process, then kill sidebar.exe.  You’ll need to restart after install Windows Media Player.

  6. Run regedit and delete the key “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Setup\Installed Versions”.

  7. If you want a good Windows 7 theme for WMP 11, check this one out:

    http://bogo-d.deviantart.com/art/7-for-Windows-Media-Player-11-105796300

    This skin is quite amazing – it combines the best elements of both WMP 11 and 12 to make an amazing looking skin.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed my tutorial, and enjoy your newly installed WMP 11 on Windows 7!

A better version of this tutorial: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-get-windows-media-player-wmp-taskbar-toolbar-back-in-windows-7/

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Quick Tip: Faster Boot Times

October 2nd, 2009 by Michael Louie | View Comments | Filed in How Tos

If your like most people out there who are expieriencing an aging computer. You may want to try this quick tip on how to make your computer boot faster. (This method will apply for XP and Vista. )

Steps:

1.Click Start<Select Run

2.Type in msconfig

3. Wait for the following window to open.

4. Click on the startup tab. Your screen should look like this.

5.As you can see, these are the programs that startup with your computer which cause the delay. You may recognize some of the programs such as if you have a logitech wireless mouse you might see a logitec application in the list. Click the unnecessary programs that you won’t need to start up such as Quicktime or Messenger.

Be careful with what you uncheck. You can google the startup item if you aren’t sure what it is. Don’t ever uncheck important programs such as your wireless mouse’s program or your antivirus program.

6. Click apply then ok and you are done. You will be prompted to restart but that is your choice.

*Note: I am not responsible for any damage or incidents caused by this tutorial. Use at your own risk.*

This is a very basic tip and should not cause any harm usually. Though if you feel unsafe dont try it.

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Windows 7 – Is it worth it?

October 1st, 2009 by Michael Louie | View Comments | Filed in Tech

Some people have heard the new name, Windows 7, Codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna. Lately, you might have heard that you can get Windows 7 for free when buying a new PC or You can upgrade to Windows 7 at a discount price. But is this new OS worth it? (note: light review)

So we all know about the lows Vista set with its paranoia over everything and multiple errors / driver issues and benchmarks at all new lows. This of course made many stay back at home with their Xp computers.

But little do people notice the great things about Vista.  With its new Aero feature, improved support for 64 bit and multicore processors, peer to peer file transferring and sharing and etc. These new features would set the path for the next OS to improve on these new programs, features and layouts.

File:Windows 7.png

(screenshot of Windows 7)

This here is the new Windows 7. There are some obvious differences…..obviously. Some parts you may recognize such as the start menu but you notice our classic taskbar looks a little different. This new little gadget is called Aero Peek. Now unlike the previous aero which shows a preview of the window when hovering above it, Aero peek will show you the windows all by hovering over the ONE app. So lets say you have 3 internet explorer windows open. Instead of hovering over one at a time to find which one you are looking for, you can hover over the internet explorer icon in the taskbar and you will see all three in realtime and if you hover over the preview, you can get a large screen preview .     =)

File:Windows 7 Taskbar.png

Another New feature is the Snap In feature. Open two windows drag them on the two sides of the screen and they will adjust to fit perfectly in your monitor ,and don’t worry  the pesky messages that black out your screen just to ask the redundant question of permission are gone.

Now for the features that you won’t notice right away. So first you get improved accessories, boot times and performance on multi-core processors. (yippe for me and my core 2 quad) Your control center has been renovated with extra items such as Clear type and Gadgets. Also, for the sake of XP which kept windows alive in my opinion will have its cousin in Windows 7. Which will be Windows XP Mode which will basically run XP in a virtual machine.  Read more about Windows XP Mode.

To be honest, Windows 7 isn’t going to be as revolutionary as Vista was yet it still improves on the great features of Vista.

I will be definitely upgrading to Windows 7 because of the improved benchmarks and benefits it features.  It has many organizational upgrades too.  I wouldn’t lie to you. Its up to you whether you are going to upgrade but beware….Windows is back.

The planned release of Windows 7 for consumers is set for October 22, 2009.

Watch Windows 7 on Youtube

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The Acer is no longer with us…

June 14th, 2008 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | View Comments | Filed in Offline, Reviews

UPDATE: I bought the computer- it really lives up to the expectations!

I returned my Acer Extensa yesterday. I’m sure you’ve read about my share of issues with it, and I returned it, because the chance to return it to costco (I had 6 months to return it there) was drawing to a close. 

We did have many issues with it – even though the hardware inside of it was great quality – an ATI Radeon 2400 XT video card which is quite high-end, there was a good hard drive and lots of ram. The problem was, the cooling was awful, and the screen and body of the computer were cheaply made. I tried to hold onto it for as long as I could and considered sending it in for repairs but then I had to scratch that because, if I sent it there, what would happen would be that it would probably say “there’s nothing wrong with the computer” and then there would be a huge waste of gas and fuel and money spent on buying sufficient postage, anyways.

So now I’m searching for a new laptop. I’m looking into HP – perhaps an HP Pavilion dv6753ca “entertainment PC”. It has similar stats, and is at a similar price-point. A bonus is that it has a LightScribe drive which is great for all you people who like being creative – me included. It’ll be great for the Kunadiuns’ next movie.

Click here for an extremely high resolution photo of my laptop.

Here are some other “Plusses” over the Acer:

  1. Some sort of Remote Control is included – it sounds good, because I use my computer to download TV shows off of BitTorrent and then I hook the computer up to the TV to play them. I think that the Remote will have a pause and play button on it, hopefully, which will save me from getting up and off of the couch and running over to the Laptop to pause the show.
  2. The awesome volume controls on the top of the keyboard – I love these!!! They are great, and you need just bearly to tap them lightly to make the sound go up and down – not push down hard – thinking about that though, you could accidentally brush against them and lose your spot in a movie.
  3. HP webcams are Great – end of story
  4. Good reliable Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection & Bluetooth™. The Acer didn’t have bluetooth, which is pretty essential to most people, so this is a definite plus.
  5. Mouse buttons are more soft and aesthetic-feel to click and don’t make such a loud annoying noise. The ones on the extensa made a huge noise when clicking.
  6. Two headphone ports – great if you and a friend are listening – much better than sharing a pair of earphones.
  7. HDMI output – this kind of video output it commonly only seen in $1000+ laptops, so this is a huge improvement over the DVI-D output that was in the Acer.
  8. HP QuickPlay media player software and its dedicated menu controls, music and DVD buttons – the only problem is, I hear, is that the “Direct” option of QuickPlay that allows you to watch DVDs without actually even starting up the computer.
  9. Apparently, it has Altec Lansing speakers – a great improvment over the awful ones in that Extensa.
  10. There is more room to expand the memory to 4 GB

Overall, this is a great laptop. I think I might get it. Tell me what you think, readers.

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