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Posts Tagged ‘windows 7’

How to use a split archive over multiple hard drives

April 18th, 2011 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | No Comments | Filed in How Tos, Offline, Tech

This is something I’d wondered about for quite a while, and wasn’t able to do until now!

With Windows 7 there are a number of changes to how folders work.  You are now able to make ‘symbolic’ folder links among other cool things.

This allows you to congregate files from multiple locations and have windows recognize them as actually being in a location different than the one they are actually in (for example if you have a split archive with different parts on different hard drives you’d be able to make a “symbolic folder” to view them as if they were all on the same hard drive).

  1. You’ll need a tool called Link Shell Extension.  This will add shell context menus to your right click context menus in Windows Explorer (giving you an option to make Symbolic Links and folders etc).   While this feature is new in windows 7 it is kind of buried and you would normally need to use the command line to utilize it.  Link Shell Extension provides a graphical front end to make this tool more useable in everyday situations.
  2. Second of all, you will need to create a target folder to “paste” your symbolic links into, so Windows will be “tricked” into thinking that your files are actually there.  I guess that’s the best way of explaining it.
  3. After creating your target folder wherever, navigate back to where your file is actually stored, and then right click and select Pick Link Source.
  4. Navigate to your target folder and select Drop As and then select Junction (this was in instructions for linking folders; for your files you may need to try other options).
  5. In your target folder you will see your file again with a little overlay icon. 
  6. Repeat for all other parts of your archive.

Thanks to unifex from SevenForums.com for providing me with this knowledge!

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Change Windows 7 Logon Background

November 1st, 2009 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | No Comments | Filed in How Tos
Pic stolen from blogsdna.com

Pic stolen from blogsdna.com

One really neat way to customize windows to your personal preference is to change your logon screen background.  In Windows 7, this is possible with no additional software, but that is a bit tricky.

We’re going to show you how to perform this with a very small software tool that is virus-free.  This tool is called Windows 7 Account Screen Editor.

You can choose any image you’d like and set it as your logon screen!

If the image you choose is too large, then it will automatically resize it for you!

This handy little tool is a great download, and when you’re done with it, because there’s no installing required, you can simply delete the tool!  You don’t need to leave it on your hard drive because the feature is built into windows!

Download it today!

Read more on DeviantArt…

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Downgrading from WMP 12 to 11 in Windows 7

October 20th, 2009 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | 7 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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Firefox 3.5 Windows 7 Jumplists with Winfox

October 15th, 2009 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | No Comments | Filed in Apps
Google Chrome's Jumplist

Google Chrome's Jumplist

Winfox Jumplist

Jumplists are one of the  most hyped features of the new Windows 7 – they are neat little shortcut menus on the new Windows 7 taskbar.

Firefox is one of the late-comers when it comes to supporting Jumplists – both Internet Explorer and Google Chrome already support them.  Firefox version 3.7 will support them, along with including a new glass/aero optimized theme.  But if you can’t wait till then, you can use Winfox.

Winfox, albeit buggy, enables jumplists for Firefox, allowing you to open new windows and tabs easily, and access your favorite sites, and even pin your most visited sites to the jumplist for easy access.

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Windows 7 – Is it worth it?

October 1st, 2009 by Michael Louie | 1 Comment | 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

If you want to, you can read even more here: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/windows7-seven-reasons/

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Windows 7 Requirements

March 24th, 2009 by Connor McBrine-Ellis | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

Thanks to consolespot.net!

Apparently, the specs were ‘leaked’ recently.  Currently, the expected release date is January 2010.  Unfortunately, Microsoft closed the Windows 7 beta downloads last month (February), but you can still get a key if one of your friends, or you managed to download it while it was available.

For the Basic Windows 7:

* 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
* 512 MB of system memory
* 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory
* DVD-ROM drive
* Audio Output
* Internet access (fees may apply)

For the Premium Windows 7:

* 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
* 1 GB of system memory
* 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
o WDDM Driver
o 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
o Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
o 32 bits per pixel
* DVD-ROM drive
* Audio Output
* Internet access (fees may apply)

Actual requirements and product functionality may vary based on your system configuration. Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor can help you determine which features and edition of Windows Vista will run on your computer.

While all editions of Windows Vista can support multiple core CPUs, only Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise can support dual processors.

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