Cyber Dimensions....

WindowsVJ.com Recent Posts

2009-10-24T17:41:00.003+05:30

New posts at our Website WindowsVJ.com
Windows 7 : MeraWindows Theme Pack
Windows 7 : Goa Theme Pack VJ
Delhi User Group Event on 24th October, 2009
Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool
Windows 7 Language Interface Pack for Hindi Available
14 New Official Themes for Windows 7
Windows 7 Officially Launched WorldWide Today
MeraWindows : Windows 7 Community Launch Parties
Download Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit
Visual Studio 2010 Webcasts by The Code Project

Office 2010 build 4417 Installation Screenshots

2009-09-09T21:57:00.001+05:30

Exclusive Screenshots for WindowsVJ.com readers.I have just been having a look at this new build of office 2010.You need to uninstall your previous version of Office 2010 as well.

After completing you can as well continue online.There are more screenies to come.

WindowsVJ

2009-09-06T14:33:00.002+05:30

I have recently launched my website http://www.windowsVJ.com which would soon replace my blog http://cyberdimensions.blogspot.com/

Users maintaing a weblog/websites of friends can add WindowsVJ.com and If you’re managing any weblogs or websites and willing to links-up with windowsVJ.com send a message.i would be happy to consider that.

<a href="http://www.WindowsVJ.com/" title="WindowsVJ by Vasu"><img alt="WindowsVJ.com" src="http://windowsvj.com/wpblog/wp-content/uploads/WindowsVJbtn.png" border="0">

Also feel free to mail me any suggestions,comments,recommendations for my website.

Vasu Jain

Yahoo Messenger 10 Beta Features

2009-09-04T15:52:00.001+05:30

Yahoo's popular instant messenger Yahoo Messenger version 10 Beta is available for download.A lot of changes have been included especially a greatly improved video chat and the social-oriented Yahoo Updates.Also Video call conversation support has been added to this version.Also there are lot of small changes and improvements added like sorting of Contacts according to activity or availability.

Users can choose their language from the sign-in screen with 16 languages available.Although It doesn't supports Hindi as of now but hope to see that in Final Version of YM10.

You can control the types of updates you want to see in Updates Tab.Here you can manage all the updates from a particular user like Twitter updates,Personal Info updates etc.These updates would be popped up immediately on Right side Lower corner of your screen as soon as they are posted.

Few updates from my friends are shown here ,One of then has updated his status on yahoo while other has made a twitter post.These updates popped up immediately.You can notice where they appear .A large number of services are supported, with content coming from blogs, Twitter, Last.fm etc.Changes in your personal Info are also reflected.

A few good themes has been added as well for Messenger.You can choose from a variety of themes according to your mood.Checking out contact info has been made much easier now.

Video call feature has been integrated into Yahoo Messenger now.Whenever you choose webcam services you are prompted for option of Video call instead of webcam.There is a new “Video Call” button to start 1on1 video call.Video+Audio together would enrich your chatting experience.There are several options for managing the conversations, like swap the video windows,mute conversation, hold conversation, full screen video chat etc, on hold.

Chat window has some i-Candy as well.IMviorments have gone upside together with activities and photos option.

YM10 sounds pretty good to me.Especially the features i liked were Video Chat with Audio Support.Although this feature is limited especially to YM10 users.

Yahoo! Messenger 10 Beta is available for download here.

http://in.messenger.yahoo.com/download/winbeta/

Try Android OS on your Windows

2009-09-04T15:51:00.001+05:30

For all those who want to have a feel of Google Android OS can do so.You can run this Os on your windows using a standalone Android Emulator which is patched to run on a Windows PC as a standalone app without having to download and install the complete Android SDK.According to an article at RedmondPie XDA-Developers forum member xda2_haseeb has managed to extract and run Android Emulator on Windows which comes as a part of Google Android SDK package. Android OS for Mobiles can be tested and run on your windows now without having to download the SDK.Also You can even install Android compatible apps on it. This has been tested on Windows 7 as well.

Installation instructions for standalone Android Emulator on Windows

1. Download Android Emulator v1.5 for Windows.
2. Extract the contents of the .rar file.
3. Now rename the extracted folder to "Android-Emulator".
4. Download the patched executable files from here.
5. Copy/Paste these patched files into the newly named “Android-Emulator” folder.

Download Android Emulator 1.5 for Windows

Microsoft Office 2010 Leaked Again

2009-09-04T15:50:00.001+05:30

A new Beta Build 14.0.4417.1000 of Microsoft Office 2010 has been leaked again. This Build features refreshed icons for all Office applications, slightly modified version of Backstage view, Upload Center (which most probably is for Office Web Apps) and a new logo for Office 2010.As of now no torrents or Links were available on major torrent sites.For downloading them you may have to wait for some more days, although Microsoft does not recommends you to use the leaked builds as they may contain harmful code that may destabilize your computer. Original translated text from this release along with screenshots from WZOR are as follows:

MICROSOFT.OFFICE.2010.v14.0.4417.1000.BETA.1.VOLUME.X86-64.ENGLISH-WZT
- The office in two versions of x86-64.
MICROSOFT.OFFICE.2010.v14.0.4417.1000.BETA.1.SLP.X86-64.RUSSIAN-WZT
- Russian pack for the interface in the two versions of x86-64.
SCREENSHOTS
In the corporate beta version 14.0.4417.1000 office suite introduced a new mechanism of activation, now office suite is activated using KMS server.

Office 2010 Beta Build 14.0.4302.1000 was leaked earlier in July 2009.Microsoft invited testers for a test build via a download link from Microsoft Connect in Mid july as well.For more information for Office 2010 check out our Office 2010 Section.

Windows 7 : Restoring your Computer

2009-09-03T14:39:00.000+05:30

Restore Whenever you install application, or software update, you make changes to your System files. Sometimes that change may make your system unstable due to incompatibilities or conflicts amongst files of the newly installed program & older files.The system may also start not responding and you may start getting error messages like “application is not responding.Restart”

In this situation you can use a feature of Windows “System Restore” to restore the original state of your Operating system.Every time you are about to do a major change in your OS it makes a check point prior to it.These check points are referred to as Restore points in Windows.System Restore which is very similar to an undo command takes your computer to any previous checkpoint and rollback the changes next to that checkpoint.However it does not affect your document files.Here is a Tutorial how to restore your computer in Windows 7.

1.Navigate to here : Start->All programs->Accessories->System tools->System <br>This will bring a screen where you can restore from a recommended restore point or you can choose one from the list.

2.After you choose option 1 you will be taken to next screen where confirmation for restore point is asked.To confirm this restore point press ok.All changes next to this restore point date would be rollbacked.

3.All the programs which would be affected by this restore can be seen by clicking ‘Scan for affected programs.It will scan all the software's that would be affected.You need to reinstall them.

4.A list comes showing all those affected software's after the restore point you chose.These programs will be deleted after Restore.

5.Also you can choose a different option at start and change the recovery point.

6.Choosing the second option will bring a list with all restore points it has.Anyone amongst these restore point can be chosen.

7. A warning message would be pop uped once you have confirmed the restore point.It would tell that there is no undo to the restore point.Although in few cases it may provide an undo.But that's when there are minor change.

8.System restore starts on.

9.Final message before restart of your computer showing Restore point details.

10.Done your System is restored to the Restore point chosen by you.When you open Restore again you can have a undo option for the restore .

Delhi book fair

2009-09-01T16:39:00.001+05:30

The 15th Delhi Book Fair will be organized by India Trade Promotion Organization, the apex trade promotion body of Government of India in active cooperation with Federation of Indian Publishers. This fair is an effort to emphasize The never fading appeal of the printed word even in the modern age of computers.This fair would last till 9th Sept 2009 and the venue is very easy to reach (Walking Distance from Pragati Maidan Metro Station,Delhi Metro).

Organized by :
The Federation of Indian Publishers
The India Trade Promotion Organization ( ITPO )
Place : Hall Nos. 8,9,10,11,12 & 12A, Pragati Bhawan, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi-110001
Time : 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Date : 29.08.09 to 06.09.09
Entry : Free
Event Details : 15th Delhi Book and Stationary Fair.
Website : delhibookfair2009.com

Excel 2010 Paste Options

2009-09-01T15:23:00.001+05:30

I recently discussed Paste options in Office 2010 which have been upgraded to show a paste preview and it provides different types of pastes with formatting or without.In excel the paste preview has few more options.

In the screenshot above i have copied a cell and then tried to paste it in some other cell.These are all paste options i had:

Under Paste we have the following pastes available :

Paste
Formulas
Formulas & Number formatting
Keep Source formatting
No Borders
Keep source Column widths
Transpose

Under Paste Values we have the following pastes available :

Values
Values & Number formatting
Values & Source formatting

Under Other Paste Options we have the following pastes available :

Formatting
Paste Link
Picture
Linked Picture

You can also have a paste preview of any of the above option,just mouse over that option & paste preview would be shown in the excel sheet itself.

Network Access Protection : Secure your Network

2009-09-01T15:20:00.001+05:30

Network Access Protection (NAP) is a platform that network administrators can use to help protect the security of a network. When you connect to a corporate network that uses NAP, your computer is checked to make sure that it has the required software and settings, and that the software and settings are up to date. If anything is missing or outdated, your computer can be automatically updated. Your network access might be limited during that time, but usually this process happens quickly, after which full network access is restored. So it checks if the computer you are connecting over network is really safe to connect or not.If any violation to NAP protocols is there such as presence of Virus,Trojans etc over the network computer you are connecting NAP wont allow you to connect.Enabling NAP enhance your security over network and you will be much more safe.

You can see if it is Activated here : Control Panel >System Security>Action Center>NAP Status On/Off

Win Windows 7 Release Candidate DVD

2009-09-01T15:15:00.001+05:30

Here is a chance for all to grab Windows 7 RC DVD.All you have to do is simply register yourself for TechNet Flash,a fortnightly newsletter on the latest updates in IT world.TechNet contains latest in product info,downloads,contests,promotions & all. The first 100 registrants will win Windows 7 RC DVD.Off course you could have it downloaded as well but what's better then getting an OS DVD for free.

Power to shutdown Internet with Obama

2009-09-01T01:10:00.001+05:30

There has been a U.S. senate bill redrafted to give President Obama the power of control to shut down the Internet in case of emergency situations. US President can stop the Internet services provided by private sector networks in case of any emergency which involves internet related issues.Bill if passed would allow control to temporary disable Internet traffic in private-sectors by US President.

According to Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, which contains large Internet and telecommunication companies such as Verizon,VeriSign, Nortel and Carnegie Mellon University "A Senate source familiar with the bill compared the president's power to take control of portions of the Internet to what President Bush did when grounding all aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001." He further mentioned “It is unclear what authority Sen. Rockefeller thinks is necessary over the private sector.Unless this is clarified, we cannot properly analyze, let alone support the bill."

This bill if passed can be a sigh of relief for all the sectors whose operations and functions have become purely Internet dependent.In fact most of the government departments and critical places where internet is being user are traffic management,Metro Trains,Power Grids,nuclear Reactors and many more .The bill thus can help protect against cyber threats and attacks on such critical infrastructures.Hackers being too active and interference of techie terrorists this can be a necessary step.

Firefox : Fail to Recover Recent tab Error

2009-08-30T19:07:00.001+05:30

Its the first time i saw this thing but a good feature in Firefox.Recently i had a windows crash and after that firefox had some problem recovering from those tabs.Till now browsers did not provide an alternate option but now it provides a page which has “Well this is Embarrassing” text and below 2 options are also provide.

Either open a new session
Try to recover from the last open tabs.You can restore particular tabs.

Well , you may be confident that Firefox provides you a backup of recent tabs in case of crash in the Recover Tabs .

Job Prospects via Online Social Networking

2009-08-25T00:29:00.001+05:30

So tweeting a few tweets every day or scrapping out a lot.Well that may affect your job prospects and increase.Being socially active over internet has more benefits than you can see,and a helpful hand in job prospects is a indirect benefit.

According to an article @ theHindu more number of American employers are turning to such sites before zeroing in on the right candidate for employment

A major chunk of the US employers are banking on social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace, to research on a candidate before recruitment, says a survey.

Nearly half of employers surveyed in the US by job portal CareerBuilder showed that 45 per cent of them use social networking sites to research job candidates. Last year, the same stood at just 22 per cent.About 11 per cent are planning to start using social networking sites for screening.Moreover, about 35 per cent of employers reported that they have found content on social networking sites that made them decide not to hire the candidate.

The survey was conducted online within the US by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com between May 22 and June 10, 2009 among 2,667 hiring managers and human resource professionals.

Going by the findings, Facebook is the most preferred among employers with 29 per cent of the employers using that site for online searches or background checks before recruiting candidates.Besides, 26 per cent of respondents use LinkedIn, 21 per cent surf MySpace, 11 per cent search blogs and 7 per cent follow candidates on Twitter for information.

The industries most likely to screen job seekers via such sites or search engines include IT (63 per cent) and professional and business services (53 per cent).

"Social networking is a great way to make connections with potential job opportunities and promote your personal brand across the Internet," CareerBuilder Vice-President of Human Resources Rosemary Haefner said.

Among those surveyed, 53 per cent respondents said candidates have posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information, while 44 per cent said that many candidates have posted information about drinking or using drugs.

As per the survey, 35 per cent of respondents found that candidates bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients and made them decide not to hire such people.Interestingly, 14 per cent of employers did not hire a candidate because he/she send a message using an emoticon such as a smiley face while 16 per cent decided against recruiting a candidate for using text language such as 'GR8' (great) in an e-mail or job application.

On the other hand, nearly 18 per cent said they found content on such sites that helped them hire a candidate.

So Best of luck for your Tweets & Scraps .May be that can land you up into your dream job.

Rearm Office 2010 : Increase Trial Period

2009-08-25T00:02:00.001+05:30

As MS Office 2010 Tech preview is around many users must be feeling to explore more & more.But it comes with an expiry time,so if you haven't activated your Office 2010 you need to do it…or you can use a very wonderful trick that you have done till now with Windows..Yeah its Rearm-ing Office 2010.Here are the steps :

1.Stop the service : Office Software Protection . You can stop it via services.msc or Windows Task Manager.

2.Now execute the file: C:\Windows\System32\OSPPRUN.exe

You will have a prompt just like CMD.

3.Enter these command followed by an enter like shown below, go to next step

I."Initialize” & then press enter

II."Open” & then press enter

III."GetInstalledSkuIds” & then press enter.Now you would get the text displayed like this.

0. 128a057a-7e95-4063-b296-c54c5f3d3f3a

1. 26adec89-edf3-4adc-a3fc-c865f1a9f71f

OK.

IV.”GetInstalledAppIds 128a057a-7e95-4063-b296-c54c5f3d3f3a”.Now you would get the text displayed like this.

0. 59a52881-a989-479d-af46-f275c6370663

OK.

V.”GetLicensingStatus 59a52881-a989-479d-af46-f275c6370663 128a057a-7e95-4063-b296-c54c5f3d3f3a” &then press enter.Now you would get the text displayed like this.

SkuId            = 128a057a-7e95-4063-b296-c54c5f3d3f3a

eStatus          = SL_LICENSING_STATUS_IN_GRACE_PERIOD

dwGraceTime      = 1D 23:37

dwTotalGraceDays = 30 days

hrReason         = 4004F00C

qwExpiration     = 2010/10/31

OK.

VI.Now we would set AppID and SkuID for Office 2010 to enable again 30 days before activation. That gives us another 30 days to test. Mostly the IDs are the same,but if they vary due to the test version you are using then copy and use yours ID.You need to type the following on the prompt :

“Rearm 59a52881-a989-479d-af46-f275c6370663 128a057a-7e95-4063-b296-c54c5f3d3f3a”

Now press Enter and you would get OK displayed on prompt.

VII. Type ”Close” & press enter.

Now your office 2010 has been rearmed for 30 more days.

Screenshots to be posted soon….****

SCIENTIFIC PREVENTION OF SWINE FLU ( H1N1 ) USING HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS

2009-08-24T23:49:00.001+05:30

Day by day swine flu has been slaughtering many people.As i earlier posted about Swine Flu about the symptoms & prevention from it…to add on there are few more tips using household products that can help you protect from Swine and would increase your immunity as well.

1. Inhale clove oil for 1 second.(Clove is called “Laung” in Hindi)
2. Chew One clove a day.
3. Eat raw Garlic/Onion/Ginger.
4. Drink Hot Milk with 2 gm of Turmeric powder.
5. Consume Plenty of Vitamin C fruits
6. Sprinkle Drops of Eucalyptus (Nilgiri) Oil on your daily use Hand Kerchiefs.
7.Have 2 tablespoon daily of Chywanpraash.

Try these and theywould help you a lot .

Prevent Windows 7 from Automatically Rebooting after Installing Windows Updates

2009-08-20T01:01:00.001+05:30

Windows updates force the OS to shut down after they install.This can be troublesome many a times when you dont want to restart your PC because of some work which is ongoing.So here is how to get rid of Reboot of Windows after Windows update Installation.To prevent Rebooting a registry tweak must be done.Here are the steps:

1. Click start Orb
2.Go to Run & type regedit.

3. In regedit, navigate to :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Polices\Microsoft\Windows
4. In the left pane, right click on Windows, and click on New Key, then type WindowsUpdate

5. In the left pane, right click on WindowsUpdate, and click on New Key, then type AU
6. In the right pane of AU, right click anywhere and select New DWORD 32-bit Value, then type in NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers.
7. Right click NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers & click Modify, then type its value as 1 and press enter.

8. Close regedit.
9. Restart the computer.

Now Windows wont restart once you install updates.

Windows Live Movie Maker Released

2009-08-20T00:31:00.001+05:30

Microsoft has released their newest version of Windows Live Movie Maker. This version allows for greater editing of videos including SD,HD support.

Windows Live Movie Maker allows for direct upload to both YouTube and Facebook with built-in publishing.One of the easiest ways to share your movies with your friends and family is on a DVD—and MovieMaker helps you burn DVDs with just a few clicks.Users are also able to play video on high definition (HD) televisions and save in a variety of standard and high definition resolutions - 480i, 720i, 720p and 1080p. Auto Movie allows users to easily create a video automatically in under one minute using selected images, captions, a title and soundtrack to go along with the slides. Editing is much more faster & easier also audio editing is available.It comes with a new design and the video can be easily shared over web.Photos and videos on your PC can be used to make new movies in a flash.You can Quickly and easily create polished movies from your videos, photos, and music. You add your assets and AutoMovie does the work, including transitions, titles, and music.

Movie Maker requires Windows Vista or Windows 7; not supported on Windows XP.

Download here : http://windowslive.com/desktop/moviemaker

Tomb Raider 9 : Concept Artwork

2009-08-20T00:09:00.001+05:30

Now that i have played almost all of Tomb raider series games…(just playing Tomb Raider 7 now) yeah i know its pretty late…but i played TR1 released in 1996 in 2004..so that ways i am pretty fast now.Completing TRU,TRA,TRL in a months span is really as wonderful as playing TR1 for the first time.So pretty excited about the next release i googled and found there ahs been a survey by Game mfg and some Concept artwork has been leaked . Here are the screenies :

Lara in a new avatar again.This time survival means using whatever tools comes to your end.And a glimpse of new Lara Croft dress as well.Lara is lost on a strange island and is hunted by freaks.

Strange & horrifying monster are there in Lara’s ways.

Tomb Raider reboot will in fact, be a prequel a great origin story , very character-oriented game according to producers.

The Plot - When a sudden storm destroys her research vessel, a young and inexperienced Lara Croft finds herself stranded on a mysterious and remote island hiden of the shores of Japan. Despite several signs of various inhabitants the island is oddly deserted, and an uneasy feeling settles in as strange sounds emerge from the shadows. With only her determination, inner strenght, and resourcefulness to help her, Lara must overcome the challenges of a harsh and unforgiving journey that will take her across a vast island wilderness and deep into the claustrophobic and menacing underground tombs from the island's past. As she struggles to prevail through brutal combat encounters and treacherous exploration, Lara will be pushed to her limits and forced to adapt to her situation in order to survive and escape from the lethal predators that stalk her every move.
Hunt or be hunted - Evade outsmart, track and kill the mysterious enemies that hunt you as prey.
Survival Action - Brutally attack and defend as you fight to survive through visceral one on one melee combat.
Strategic Weapons - Gain an advantage in combat by finding an array of different melee and ranged weapons including a variety of guns and the hunters ultimate weapon, the bow.
Creative Survival - React and adapt to the island by using only that wich you can salvage from the environment like climbing axes, rope, and machetes that can be used to unlock new traversal and combat gameplay options.
Free Movement - Scrale up a vertical cliff wall, sprint and leap across a huge chasm, steer mid air to land a misderected jump there is no one right way to traverse, survive, and explore the harsh enviroment of the island.
One Cohesive World - The diverse multi region island is an open playground alive with creatures, weather and natural events.
Origin Story - This new Tomb Raider concept reboots the franchise by exploring the origins of Lara Croft's transformation into a hardened adventurer as unravel the story behind the island's mysterious past.

Well time would tell if its true but the next gen Tomb raider seems interesting.

Microsoft Answers for Windows Live

2009-08-19T22:57:00.001+05:30

Stuck in a problem while working on your windows…or some plug-in is giving you a trouble or you need to set some functionality on or off…

If you are yelling SOS and no one is here then you can get help on Microsoft Answers Windows live site.

Experienced people like MVP’s,Certified people would be there to help you.You can post your problem or querry in the community and these people will try to give you the best solution.Also you too can voluntarily take part and help others in solving their problems.

Windows Application Compatibility Mode

2009-08-19T00:41:00.001+05:30

Windows Vista onwards Compatibility mode is provided in applications. Compatibility mode allows a older application compatible for an earlier versions of Windows to possibly run in Windows 7.It runs the program using settings from a previous version of Windows.Changing the compatibility mode solves the problem most of the time which is generally crashing of an application while executing it on a newer Windows.Even If changing the Compatibility settings does not fix the problem,you need to check for an update for that application at the manufacturer's website.
1.Right click on the program's shortcut, Application file, or installation program.
2.Click on Properties.It will show properties of that application with few tabs.
3.Click on the Compatibility tab.
4. To Run a Program in Compatibility Mode you can select compatibility mode for a previous version of Windows.Choose the one this program works well on or the one you believe this program runs well on.
5.Check the Run this program in compatibility mode Check box.
6.Now Click on the drop down menu and select which version of Windows the program was made for.

7.Few more settings can be Changed to make the application more compatible.Checking the checkbox enables that particular setting.These settings are:
Run in 256 colors
Run in 640 × 480 screen resolution
Disable visual themes
Disable desktop composition
Disable display scaling on high DPI settings
8. Click OK to apply the changes.

It is recommended that Compatibility mode must not be used with system applications like system drivers or antivirus as that may cause losses & risks to your data.

Windows 7: Jump lists Customization

2009-08-19T00:04:00.001+05:30

Windows 7 comes with a very handy feature called Jumplist. This feature shows a list of related tasks & Recent documents of a process or shortcut icon which is in taskbar. You can view & customize it easily.
1. Right click on any icon in the taskbar.
2. It will show a list of related tasks to that application as well, Number of recent applications.

3. If there is a shortcut you wish to see every time you open the Jump list of that application you can pin that as well to Jump list.
Say for Windows Media Player you have recent shortcut of a movie and you wish it to appear permanently then you can pin it to the jump list.

4. You can also customize number of Recent Items in Jump list.
    a. right click on Start Button or taskbar (Super bar) of Windows 7
    b.Click on properties. It will pop up Taskbar & start Menu properties.
    c.Select the tab 'startMenu'.This will bring you Customize & Privacy options.
    d.Select Customize button there.
    e.Select Number of items in Jumplist from 10 to number you wish to.

5. Also you can choose default settings if you wish to undo all the changes you have done.

Windows 7: Start Menu Customization

2009-08-18T23:55:00.001+05:30

Start Menu in Windows 7 can be customized according to user’s need. All the items in Start menu can either be set as display link or set as menu. Apart from it there are several more things to configure.
Steps are here:
1. Right click on Start Button or taskbar (Super bar) of Windows 7
2. Click on properties. It will pop up Taskbar & start Menu properties.

3. Select the tab 'Start Menu’. This will bring you Customize & Privacy options.
4. Select Customize button there.

5. You can select the behavior of items in Start Menu. If you want them to behave as link, Menu or Icon.
6. Behaviour of items like my computer, Downloads etc can be set.
7. Also you can choose default settings if you wish to undo all the changes you have done.
8.Click OK to apply the changes.

Gmail : 3rd largest email provider, next to Windows Live & Yahoo

2009-08-18T23:54:00.002+05:30

According to ComScore, a marketing research company, Gmail is now the third largest email provider in the United States.Gmail grew a remarkable 46 percent, from 25.3 million to 36.9 million users. Gmail is now on pace to overtake Windows Live Hotmail, at 47.1 million users, in around seven months.Yahoo Mail continues to lead the pack when it comes to U.S. email providers with 106.1 million visitors last month.

via Neowin

List of Windows Operating System Version Number

2009-08-18T23:35:00.003+05:30

Here is a list of versions of Windows, since Windows Operating System 1.0. The distinguish of versions rather than OS names are important for developers and the distinguish of Windows structure. The list can also be found on MSDN OSVERSIONINFO Structure

List of Windows Client OS with their Version Numbers

Operating System	Version Number
Windows 1.0	1.04
Windows 2.0	2.11
Windows 3.0	3
Windows NT 3.1	3.10.528
Windows for Workgroups 3.11	3.11
Windows NT Workstation 3.5	3.5.807
Windows NT Workstation 3.51	3.51.1057
Windows 95	4.0.950
Windows NT Workstation 4.0	4.0.1381
Windows 98	4.1.1998
Windows 98 Second Edition	4.1.2222
Windows Me	4.90.3000
Windows 2000 Professional	5.0.2195
Windows XP	5.1.2600
Windows Vista	6.0.6000
Windows 7	6.1.7600

Source via MSIGeek

Nilkeni's Dream : UID

2009-08-18T22:09:00.003+05:30

Another out of scope Post.Its infact a cool joke.Too good to share.I got that as an email so no real sources can be cited.Hv a good read and Enjoy :

Nandan Nilekani can do it.....Fully integrated ID card system for Indian citizens

Operator : "Thank you for calling Pizza Hut . May I have your..."
Customer: "Heloo, Heloo, can I order.."
Operator : "Can I have your multi purpose ID card number first, Sir?"
Customer: "It's he..., hold...........on......889861356102049998-45-54610"
Operator : "OK... You're... Mr Singh and you're calling from 17 Jal Vayu. Your home number is 22678893, your office 25076666 and your mobile is 09869798888. Today morning you landed in Indiaat IG InternationalAirport.. Welcome back, Sir. Which number are you calling from now Sir?"
Customer: "Home! How did you get all my phone numbers?
Operator : "We are connected to the system Sir"
Customer: "May I order your Seafood Pizza..."
Operator : "That's not a good idea Sir"
Customer: "How come?"
Operator : "According to your medical records, you have high blood pressure and even higher cholesterol level Sir"
Customer: "What?... What do you recommend then?"
Operator : "Try our Low Fat Pizza. You'll like it"
Customer: "How do you know for sure?"
Operator : "You borrowed a book entitled "Popular Dishes" from the National Library last week Sir"
Customer: "OK I give up... Give me three family size ones then, how much will that cost?"
Operator : "That should be enough for your family of 05, Sir. The total is Rs 500.00"
Customer: "Can I pay by! Credit card?"
Operator : "I'm afraid you have to pay us cash, Sir. Your credit card is over the limit and you owe your bank Rs 23,000.75 since October last year. That's not including the late payment charges on your housing loan, Sir.."
Customer: "I guess I have to run to the neighbourhood ATM and withdraw some cash before your guy arrives"
Operator : "You can't Sir. Based on the records, you've reached your daily limit on machine withdrawal today"
Customer: "Never mind just send the pizzas, I'll have the cash ready. How long is it gonna take anyway?"
Operator : "About 45 minutes Sir, but if you can't wait you can always come and collect it on your Nano Car..."
Customer: " What!"
Operator : "According to the details in system ,you own a Nano car,...registration number GZ-05-AB-1107.."
Customer: " ????"
Operator : "Is there anything else Sir?"
Customer: "Nothing... By the way... Aren't you giving me that 3 free bottles of cola as advertised?"
Operator : "We normally would Sir, but based on your records you're also diabetic........ "
Customer: #$$^%&$@$% ^
Operator : "Better watch your language Sir.. Remember on 15th July 2010 you were convicted of using abusive language on a policeman...?"
Customer: [Faints]

Microsoft LifeCam goes 720p : First consumer HD webcam

2009-08-18T22:05:00.002+05:30

MS Lifecam is the first consumer webcam to support 720p video at 30fps. That’s the full 1,280x720, unlike some other attempts at so called HD video for some 2 Megapixel webcam’s that only managed 960x720 which isn’t really HD.

Other features include a glass lens, auto focus, 4x digital zoom and a digital, noise-cancelling microphone that is mounted on the top of the camera. Microsoft has also implemented what it calls ClearFrame technology which is meant to deliver smooth, detailed video, although we’re not quite sure what this does.

more @ http://www.pocket-lint.com

Microsoft roadshow on Windows 7 in 16 Cities

2009-08-18T21:21:00.006+05:30

Microsoft India announced the commencement of a 16 city partner roadshow in its endeavour to get the ecosystem ready for the launch of Windows 7 in October this year. From August to September 2009, Microsoft expects to reach out to over 1800 partners across several cities including Ahmedabad, Cochin, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Pune , Ranchi and the five metros. The roadshows are aimed at equipping the partner ecosystem to effectively roll-out Windows 7 in India and maximize the tremendous business opportunity that the new operating system represents for them.

"We are very excited about the potential of Windows 7 and the combined value we can provide to customers. The roadshows will provide us a good perspective on the opportunities we can leverage with Windows 7 and enable us to maximize the enormous business opportunity it presents", stated Mr. Sudarsan, CEO of Veeras Infotek, a Chennai-based Microsoft partner. To provide a further impetus to their Windows 7 partner program, Microsoft has also announced an exciting new contest called 'Saath ka dum', wherein partners can win upto Rs. 20,000 by rolling out Windows 7 in the country. "This roadshow is a great platform for us to engage with them and provide the resources they need to get ready for Windows 7 roll-out so that together, we can deliver a unique customer experience." said Mr. G. Ramesh, Director- Windows Client, Microsoft India said. "We are optimistic about the long-term business opportunities Windows 7 represents for our ecosystem and are focused on working with our partners to realize this potential," he added.

via Microsoft India Press Release

Identity Theft: Three Men stole 130 Million Credit Card Numbers

2009-08-18T05:46:00.001+05:30

A Grand Jury indicted a U.S. man and his two co-conspirators for stealing 130 million bank card numbers in 2007. Albert Gonzales of Miami is charged with hacking and compromising major credit card hubs, including 7-Eleven, Heartland Payment Systems, and Hannaford Brothers.
According to the indictment, the men sold some of the numbers, which were used to make illegal withdrawals from multiple banks. They apparently got around the security of these systems with database injections that helped them intercept credit card transactions in real time
via Identity Theft: Three Men stole 130 Million Credit Card Numbers

Word case costs $40M to Microsoft

2009-08-18T05:34:00.003+05:30

In the patent-infringement case against Microsoft Word, a Texas judge fined Microsoft $40 million for trial misconduct after a Microsoft attorney attempted to liken plaintiff i4i's motives for suing the software giant to banks seeking government bailouts.

During the jury trial in May, Judge Leonard Davis warned attorney Matthew Douglas Powers - of the Redwood City, Calif., law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges - that he was misstating the law when he suggested to the jury that i4i was improperly suing Microsoft, not to protect its patent but to just get money.

more @ http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/176681.asp?source=rss

Windows 7 RC download Ends on 20 Aug 2009

2009-08-18T05:29:00.004+05:30

Last Chance for all windows 7 lovers to have a taste of Windows 7 Release Candidate.You can download the RC version till Thursday, August 20^th 2009.

Although After that date, you will still be able to register your product and get registration keys but,Win 7 RC will no longer be available for download.

If you have not downloaded the Release Candidate, You can download from here

Free Windows 7 at Microsoft Launch Events (US Only)

2009-08-18T05:23:00.003+05:30

Microsoft is hosting free events for Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010 in major cities in US. Attendees will receive a free copy of Windows 7 Professional.The events are starting September 28th, 2009 and will end on November 4th.

You can register them here register

Sure non US - Geeks are missing a treat !!

Twibbon : Add Ribbon to your Twitter Display

2009-08-16T22:59:00.001+05:30

You can customize more of your twitter account.There is a website ,twibbon by which you can add small ribbons in your display picture that reflects your interest or represent your community or if you wish to support something you can have them.Say an AIDS Awareness twibbon on World Aids Day.Or, Flag,or Windows logo.

A Twibbon is like a bumper plate sticker for your twitter avatar. It is used to promote a cause on twitter by overlaying an image on your profile picture to show your allegiance to the Twibbon cause.

A Twibbon cause can be anything from a protest, memorial, event or even a popular person or band, for example:

http://twibbon.com/join/IndonesiaUnite to support the fight against terrorism in Indonesia
http://twibbon.com/join/RIP-Jackie-our-BH-sister to remember Jackie, a New Kids on the Block fan
http://twibbon.com/join/I-Love-McFly to support the band McFly
http://twibbon.com/join/WineBloggersConfrence to show you'll attend the Wine Bloggers' Conference

List for all the twibbons : http://twibbon.com/list

Vote for Best Windows Website Contest 2009

2009-08-16T03:21:00.006+05:30

The Windows Club is organizing its Best Windows Website Contest 2009, to discover and to recognize some of the best Windows bloggers and website owners.

From among the entrants, 10 blogs are short-listed by the Panel and put up for a community vote.

websites (Forum/Blog) which focuses primarily on Microsoft Windows, participated in this Contest. You need to vote the best out of these.The top 10 Finalists are here (in no particular order):

winhelponline.com, windows7center.com, 4sysops.com,

bhandler.spaces.live.com , intowindows.com , maximumpcguides.com ,

msigeek.com , windowsvalley.com , sevenforums.com , 7tutorials.com

The criteria for voting is short and should be : Does the website have substantial original quality content of interest & use to a Windows 7 & Vista user ?

Vote Here

Get a new Background for your Twitter

2009-08-16T03:16:00.003+05:30

Bored of your old Twitter Background?Cant seem to find enuf of those provided by them?

well ere is a solution...TwitterBackgrounds.com, the premier site for Twitter backgrounds.They have one of the largest selection of free Twitter backgrounds.Also you can get a custom Twitter background.Well you have to pay for that.

Check them here : Free Twitter Backgrounds

Microsoft Excel 2010 : Project Gemini

2009-08-16T03:04:00.002+05:30

Recently @ DelhiItPro, in a session i talked about Microsoft Excel making use of Project Gemini.

Project Gemini is an Excel 2010 add-in that allows you to create powerful analyses by quickly manipulating millions of rows of data into a single Excel workbook and utilize Microsoft Office 2010 to share and collaborate on your insights with your team.

Project "Gemini" add-in for Excel 2010 provides business users, such as yourselves, with ground-breaking technology. This includes fast manipulation on very large data sets (often in millions of rows), combine data from multiple data sources, and the ability to effortlessly share your analysis through SharePoint 2010. By using the Gemini add-in, you can gain business insight and make better decisions using Microsoft Office.

You can combine native Excel 2010 functionality with Gemini’s in-memory engine to allow users to interactively explore and perform calculations on large data sets. In addition, you can easily streamline the process of integrating data from multiple sources – including corporate databases, spreadsheets, reports, and data feeds.

Share and collaborate with confidence by easily publishing your analysis to SharePoint 2010 and have other users enjoy the same slicer and fast-query capabilities when working on your Excel Services reports.

Paint.NET v3.5 enhanced for Windows 7

2009-08-16T01:59:00.003+05:30

The latest alpha build of Paint.NET v3.5 will now use DirectWrite instead of GDI for the Text tool if you are running Windows 7. DirectWrite is a new font and text rendering system that comes with Windows 7. In Paint.NET, you’ll see the following benefits:

Faster text rendering. This is currently due to important architectural differences from GDI. With DirectWrite, I can render using multiple threads (performance scaling), while also not blocking the UI thread from drawing (mutexing). GDI can only render text on 1 thread at a time, and that also includes the thread responsible for the UI. DirectWrite can also benefit from GPU acceleration when things are set up correctly with Direct2D (Paint.NET only uses the software rasterization capabilities right now, but in the future who knows!).
Better quality text rendering. DirectWrite implements what is called “y-direction antialiasing”. The short story is that GDI apparently only does antialiasing on the horizontal axis. It can also position characters with sub-pixel accuracy … in other words, GDI uses integers and DirectWrite uses floating point.

Windows 7 Users can Get it here:

http://paintdotnet.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=31132

via Paint.netBlog

H1N1 Influenza A: Symptoms & Precautions

2009-08-15T21:36:00.004+05:30

Although I am deviating from scope of my Blog , but I believe since my blog is read by many of my freinds I wish to share Some info regarding H1N1.

Measures to consider, particularly when you are in an area where flu is rampant in the community:

Maintain good personal hygiene. Wash your hands frequently. Carry a hand sanitizer for use when soap and water aren't readily available
Avoid touching your face.
Avoid people who seem to be sick.
Avoid crowds as much as possible.
If you cannot avoid crowds, consider wearing a face mask or a respirator (if you are trained in using a respirator).
Monitor your health, and seek medical attention if you feel unwell.

To reduce the spread of flu:

Cover coughs and sneezes with a mask or a tissue.
Stay at home if you are unwell.
Limit your contact with others as much as possible.
Contact the Doctor or the Nodal Center nearest to your location, if you or your children develop flu-like symptoms.
When you arrive at the hospital, ensure that you tell them that you have recently been in an area that has reported H1N1 influenza.

The symptoms of H1N1 swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhoea and vomiting associated with H1N1 swine flu. Severe illness (pneumonia and respiratory failure) and even deaths have been reported with H1N1 swine flu infection. Like seasonal flu, H1N1 swine flu may cause a worsening of underlying chronic diseases.In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

Difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath
Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
Sudden dizziness
Confusion
Severe or persistent vomiting
Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

You can refer these links for more Information :

Most of the information in this part has been provided by Ultimatix@TCS.Also if you are visiting an infected area use N95 Masks.These are 3 tier masks that are much better than 1 tier masks that are avilable @ a cheaper rate in the Market.

Imagine Cup : Finals

2009-08-15T21:27:00.006+05:30

Since 2002, the Imagine Cup has been challenging the world's brightest students to step up and make a difference. The 2010 Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals will be held in Warsaw, Poland in summer 2010.

Each year the Finals are held in a different city of the world. Past Worldwide Finals include

Cairo, Egypt (2009)
Paris, France (2008)
Seoul, South Korea (2007)
Delhi, India (2006)
Yokohama, Japan (2005)
Sao Paulo, Brazil (2004)
Barcelona, Spain (2003).

For more details about imagine Cup 2010 : Click here

Infosys,TCS,Airtel : Most Admired companies

2009-08-15T21:12:00.004+05:30

According to the survey conducted by Wall Street Journal on Top 200 most admired companies in Asia, Infosys Technologies has been named the most Admired company in India.TCS was ranked number 2 in the overall rankings of the 'most admired companies in India' in the Asia 2000 survey of The Wall Street Journal Asia.Bharti Airtel being the Third. The survey report was published in the 14-16 August 2009 issue of the newspaper.This survey of business readers in Asia has been conducted since 1993 by the Far Eastern Economic Review and this is the third time the survey will be published by The Wall Street Journal Asia.

TCS is the most admired company for innovation, followed by Bharti Airtel and Infosys Technologies.

The ranking has broadly taken 5different aspects into consideration. Financial Reputation,Corporate Reputation, Quality, Innovation, Vision

With the biggest reserves and deposits , SBI takes the top position for Financial Reputation. Reliance Industries, followed by HDFC bank complete the top 3 positions

Infosys Technologies for its exemplary Governance and transparency in corporate dealing comes at top followed by 2 Tata companies, TCS and Tata Steel

Quality of Software deliveries, Infosys takes the top position, followed by L&T and Bharti Airtel.

With visionaries like Narayan Murthy and Nandan Nilekani at the helm, Infosys Technologies had to take the top position when it comes to vision. Tata Steel comes at 2nd followed by Reliance Industries.

Imagine Cup 2010 Poland

2009-08-15T20:59:00.004+05:30

After great success of Imagine Cup 2009 : Egypt , Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2010 which is a global student technology competition would be focused on finding solutions to real-world issues.For 2009 Imagine Cup Last year, over 300,000 students from 142 countries/regions registered .

The 2010 Imagine Cup competition encourages the world's most talented software designers, programmers, game developers, and digital media enthusiasts to tackle, head on, issues related to the 2010 theme: “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.” Whether it is providing solutions related to hunger relief, poverty, education, disease control, healthcare, or the environment - this is your chance to make a difference in our world today.So the focus would be on how IT can be used to challenge the real world problems.The 2010 Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals will be held in Warsaw, Poland in summer 2010.

Sign up for one of the 3 main competitions: Software Design, Game Design (both are open now for you to sign-up) or Digital Media (open for sign-up by Sept 1, 2009) and contribute your talents to solving some of the toughest problems.

You can register for this world's premier student technology competition Register here!

Make Ofice Better

2009-08-11T09:30:00.003+05:30

A website where you can share your views and ideas about how can you make your office better.
It is started by 2 MS employees but it aint an official MS website.According to Steve & Luke
"Hi! We're two Microsoft employees looking to collect customer ideas on how to improve Microsoft Office. If you've got a new feature idea or an idea on how to improve Microsoft Office, please share it here...and vote on other ideas you agree with. Through the magic of crowd-sourcing the best ideas should rise to the top.

Although we are employed by Microsoft, this is not an official Microsoft website. You should not expect an official response from Microsoft by posting an idea here, but we'll do our best to get the ideas posted here in front of the right people within the Office development team."

Add your idea

No Windows 7's XP Mode for Sony Laptop Users

2009-08-11T09:28:00.000+05:30

Sony has disabled hardware virtualization in their laptop range, thus rendering Windows XP Mode in Windows 7, and many other Virtual Machine Based products, such as VMware and Virtualbox pretty much useless.

Sony claims that they are disabled for "security" reasons - which doesn't really seem to make any sense; Sony has also said that they will re-enable hardware virtualization on "select" laptops from the Vaio range. XP Mode isn't really a hugely adopted feature, but it's pretty upsetting for Sony users who had intended to use it, or wanted to use virtualization on their machines.

more @ Sony laptops disable Windows 7's XP Mode

Microsoft Office 2010 : New Features in other Products

2009-08-10T02:17:00.004+05:30

Microsoft believes Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint as the core of Microsoft's Office suite, there are of course a number of other Office applications, and they're all being updated in Office 2010.Here are the changes to other Office Applications:

OneNote 2010 adds simple screenshot functionality, new Side Notes and Linked Notes, ribbon UI.
Access 2010 Excel-like Expression Builder for creating code with plain English, more web-savvy, web-specific databases
InfoPath 2010 InfoPath Filer for forms-specific functionality, & better data validation.
Publisher 2010 new picture manipulation and typography tools
SharePoint Workspace 2010 Groove of 2007, synchronization functionality so that you can access SharePoint data directly from your PC.

Microsoft Power Point 2010 : New Features

2009-08-10T02:13:00.004+05:30

Few new features that have been embedded in Powerpoint 2010 are :

Better transitions and animations : cinematic , transitions(fade, wipe, blinds),Animation capability improved, copy animation by Animation painter.
Broadcast Slide Show : remotely broadcast ppt via web. Requires SharePoint server 2010.se browser to view. Even on Smartphone. You invite users on net via email with the link to click & launch
Video editing : embed video clips in ppt, edit, compress w/o external app.Two ribbon tab : Video Tools Format (brightness contrast color, borders) & Edit (trim, playback configurations)
Equation Editor : Just like Excel

Microsoft Excel 2010 : New Features

2009-08-10T02:03:00.005+05:30

Features new to Microsoft Excel 2010 :

64-bit support : Over 4 GB Spreadsheet can be created.
Spark lines : Support for charts extended . Tiny charts that appear in a single cell. Visual way to represent numbers.
Slicers : deliver Visualizations, add visual filtering elements to tables. Visually filter data in pivot table & quickly extract the required data. Live so data updates.
Project Gemini : Excel takes advantage of its add-in to perform in-memory analytics of database based data sets.
Improved conditional formatting tools
Part of Office Web Applications : that would be used in Cloud Computing
Windows Mobile-based application: Microsoft Excel 2010 Mobile

Comparison of Virtual PC 2007 to Windows Virtual PC

2009-08-10T01:42:00.002+05:30

In comparison to Virtual PC 2007,Windows Virtual PC has following additional features :

Integration with Windows XP Mode
USB support
Seamless application publishing & launching
Support for multi threads
Clipboard sharing
Printer redirection
Smart card redirection
Drive sharing
Integration with Windows Explorer
Known folder integration between host and guest
Support for higher resolutions
Requires AMD-V or Intel-VT CPU feature

System requirements for Windows Virtual PC

2009-08-10T01:15:00.002+05:30

Before you move on to Windowx XP mode in your Windows 7 have a check @ your system requirements as well.You must have following configuration :

Hardware Virtualization Technology enabled
1 GHz 32-bit / 64-bit processor required
Memory (RAM) :2GB memory or higher recommended
Recommended 15 GB hard disk space per virtual Windows environment
Supported host operating system: Windows 7
Supported guest operating system: Windows XP SP3 / Vista / Windows 7

How to confirm your PC can run Windows XP Mode

2009-08-10T01:00:00.002+05:30

There is an amazing feature with Windows .And that is XP mode.it is ot like the Virtual PC we used to do.It is much more different.Moving mouse between two OS is much more easy and it is much more easier for the user.Although OEMs have been shipping hardware virtualization in PCs for three years, hardware virtualization is not available in all PCs — so even if your PC is new, it may not have hardware virtualization. Additionally, those PCs with hardware virtualization have it turned off by default, so you will need to turn on the hardware virtualization capability before you can use it.

To determine whether your PC works with Windows XP Mode:

Step 1. Does my PC have a CPU with support for hardware virtualization?

For Intel processors:

Download, install and run the Intel Processor Identification Utility.
Navigate to the CPU Technologies tab and read the value in the "Intel Virtualization Technology" field.
- If the value is No then your CPU does not support hardware virtualization.
- If the value is Yes then the CPU supports hardware virtualization. Go on to step 2 below.

For AMD processors: AMD Virtualization Compatibility Check Utility.

Step 2. Does my PC BIOS support hardware virtualization, and is it turned on?

Instructions to turn on hardware virtualization in your PC BIOS are specific to OEM models. It is important that after changing your BIOS settings the PC is completely shut down at the power switch before restarting so that the new BIOS settings can take place.I did not Shutted it down and the settings dint took place.After a switch off completly for say 5 seconds or more your computer will enable VT.

Microsoft Word 2010 : New Features

2009-08-09T03:49:00.004+05:30

The following features are new to Office suite 2010:

Improved document searching : Replaces previous generation find dialog. New navigation pane for search. Enter text, search results highlights, mouse over tells page on which there is occurence of the search text, Like Adobe PDF
Paste Preview : Cut / paste info from internet is easy. No more clean up of Hyperlinks. Paste behavior can be set in three ways. Live preview of paste.
Co-authoring : Requires SharePoint server 2010.Coauthoring of document in real time can be done. Members can work simultaneously & Edits ,tracks & flaggs the changes .You can also block sections of documents.
New text effects: Better typography capabilities, stylistic alternates,Improvements to WordArt and Text Effects
Improved picture editing capabilities : Includes an image & video editor within app itself.No need of external 3rd party Image editor required now.
Visual navigation pane & section header breakdown which makes it easy to jump around different sections

Microsoft Outlook 2010 : New Features

2009-08-09T03:31:00.003+05:30

I Have been Beta testing Microsoft Office 2010.And i found some new features in Outlook 2010.

Clean Up Conversation : Removes redundant parts of email messages, rid from quoted junk
Ignore thread : Deletes all current & future responses of a never ending email with a single click.
Quick Steps : Collection of built-in multi step functions ,also you can define & modify by QS interface
Mail Tips : Alerts/warns when sending inappropriate email or doing something not practical. e.g.sending mail to out of office, workgroup .No data leaks. Requires Exchange 2010
UI of email conversations : upgraded to look almost like a message tree, for better visual view of emails
Jumplists in Outlook 2010 : use of Windows 7’s Jumplist feature for quick access to certain processes.

Windows 7 RTM New User Account Pictures

2009-08-09T03:26:00.003+05:30

You can find new User Account pictures in Windows 7 RTM.Here is the link to access them

and also given the screenshot which shows all of the New Pictures added.

You can copy these in Vista here : C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures to have them in your Windows Vista User Account

User Account pictures in Windows 7

2009-08-09T03:20:00.002+05:30

You can find the default pictures of Windows 7 user Account in a hidden folder,path given below.Also you can find Admin & guest account picture here.

The default Pictures are located in the hidden C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures folder.
The default Standard and administrator account picture is the hidden C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\user.bmp file.
The default Guest account picture is the hidden C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\guest.bmp file.

If you wish to change these simply replace them with another file up to 128 x 128 pixels in size to prevent it from being automatically cropped to fit the user picture display box.

Windows 7 RTM Wallpaper for download

2009-08-09T03:14:00.001+05:30

Wallpapers pack from Windows 7 RTM Build includes 69 beautiful wallpapers – all in high resolution.

Download Windows 7 Wallpapers Pack (RTM Build 7600.16385)

for a lot more Windows 7 Wallpapers check redmondpie

Windows 7 RTM bug isnt a showstopper

2009-08-09T03:06:00.002+05:30

As we mentioned few days back Windows 7 RTM has a checkdisk bug . In reply to that Steven Sinfosky, president of the Windows division at Microsoft, says that this is indeed not a showstopper and occurs by design.

In this case, we haven’t reproduced the crash and we’re not seeing any crashes with chkdsk on teh stack reported in any measurable number that we could find. We had one beta report on the memory usage, but that was resolved by design since we actually did design it to use more memory. But the design was to use more memory on purpose to speed things up, but never unbounded — we requset the available memory and operate within that leaving at least 50M of physical memory. Our assumption was that using /r means your disk is such that you would prefer to get the repair done and over with rather than keep working.

While we appreciate the drama of “critical bug” and then the pickup of “showstopper” that I’ve seen, we might take a step back and realize that this might not have that defcon level. Bugs that are so severe as to require immediate patches and attention would have to have no workarounds and would generally be such that a large set of people would run across them in the normal course of using their PC.

Sinofsky also stated that they are doing overnight stress testing of 40 machines to see if the problem can be reproduced.

Dell Launches Alienware M17X in India : the most powerful Gaming machine of Universe

2009-08-09T02:56:00.007+05:30

Dell has launched the new Alienware M17x which is claimed to be the most powerful 17-inch gaming notebook in the universe. Launched in India, Dell Alienware M17x features striking design, including anodised aluminum casing, aggressive lines and a unique chassis, and the unique visual ID of the Alienware brand, Dell says.

Dell Alienware M17x includes new anodised aluminum industrial design with colour options, up to Dual 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M graphics processing units (GPUs) with SLI technology, configurable with Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad-core overclockable Mobile Processor, up to 8GB DDR32 1333MHz memory, 1TB3 7200RPM or 512GB of Solid State Storage Capacity (Raid 0), optional beyond HD resolution with a WUXGA 1200p (1920 x 1200) Edge-to-Edge LCD design, internal wireless a/g/draft-n with MIMO (2x2) Technology, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G1 GPU with HybridPower technology, exclusive Alienware Command Center Software Solution, exclusive designed AlienFX Illuminated keyboard, and Microsoft Windows Vista (64 bit).

"The Alienware M17x is a gamer's dream and sets the universal standard for 17-inch laptops that enthusiasts worldwide will love," said Girish Mehta, marketing director, consumer business, Dell India.

Pricing for Dell Alienware M17x notebook starts from Rs 1,39,000.
Chk it out @ Dell Website

Massive DoS attack on Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, LiveJournal, YouTube or Google

2009-08-09T02:37:00.001+05:30

Various social networking, blogging, and other popular services such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, LiveJournal, YouTube or Google Sites were the target of a massive DDoS attack yesterday, which impacted them in different ways. The intended target appears to have been a pro-Georgian blogger with accounts on all of the websites.

Twitter was the most affected service, experiencing intermittent downtimes for millions of users across the globe. "Site is down. We are determining the cause and will provide an update shortly," read an announcement posted on the Twitter status page. Another note posted a bit later made it clear that an attack was causing the problems.

Blogger, YouTube and Google Sites were targeted as well, but Google's cloud was able to handle the load successfully and with minimal impact on the quality of service. LiveJournal confirmed to PC Magazine that its site was hit and had some problems too, causing some pages to be inaccessible.

Facebook's Max Kelly revealed that the reason for the mysterious attack was a Georgian blogger calling himself cyxymu, who has accounts on all of these websites. The simultaneous hits were likely an attempt to silence him. "Unfortunately I was the target of attack. Offer our apologies to all," (translated) he writes on Twitter.

via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LiveJournal Hit to Silence Blogger

Windows 7 Ultimate Box Cover

2009-08-08T07:47:00.001+05:30

This is the actual image from the original box Art with 150 dpi (1613×1080 resolution) which will feature on retail packages of Windows 7 Ultimate SKU.

Windows 7 is releasing for general on October 22nd, 2009.

Download Windows 7 Ultimate DVD Cover

Source: Windows 7 Ultimate Box Art DVD Cover

Windows 7 Box Art Themes & Wallpapers

2009-08-08T07:43:00.001+05:30

Windows 7 Box Art Themes for Ultimate, Professional and Home Premium editions

Windows 7 Box Art Wallpapers for Ultimate, Professional and Home Premium editions

Installation Instructions: Double click the downloaded .themepack file to install it. These themes will only work on Windows 7.

For more, visit the entire Windows 7 Wallpapers & Windows 7 Themes Gallery.

Source: Windows 7 Box Art Themes & Wallpapers

Download Windows 7 Box Art Themes
Download Windows 7 Box Art Wallpapers

Backstage Concept in Office 2010

2009-08-07T00:54:00.003+05:30

Office 2010 also replaces the old File menu with a new interface called Backstage. This view, which is triggered by clicking the application button, takes up the entire application window and represents the "behind the scenes” operations that you can perform on the currently loaded document." It's also the place where you can access application options and other items that were previously found in the File menu, including Print, another essential, or core, Office capability. (In Backstage parlance, the document content is considered "on stage.")

Instead of launching a menu of choices, Backstage pops-up a window-like view where you can quickly perform tasks like saving and printing files and configuring preferences. Quick access to permissions, document meta-data under document info is also there.Hands on & you might find you like Backstage even more. For example, you can preview a document right from the “Print” settings so you don’t have to go to a separate “Print Preview” area anymore. Clicking ‘Print’ under the Office 2010 button opens a plethora of printing options. No need go through a ‘Print Wizard’ you can select all your print options from here & hit print.

New features to Office 2010

2009-08-07T00:47:00.002+05:30

Office 2010 offers a few interesting if general new features.

1.The product will support "high definition" content, such as better-looking special effects, transitions, and images in applications like Excel and PowerPoint. It will also support advanced visualizations.

2. will support Microsoft's "work anywhere" notion via high-fidelity pass-through of documents between the PC desktop, the web, and mobile devices.

The Office Web Applications, which are of course, brand new, will open up Office tremendously, allowing customers to access their documents from anywhere, even if the PC they're using is not their own and does not have Office installed. Somewhat like Googgle Docs.

This is an interesting approach for taking a software suite and positioning it in the cloud computing generation. OS:Like Windows Azure

3.All Office applications will be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions in Office 2010

4. It will allow users to connect and collaborate in real time, both on the PC desktop and on the web

System requirements for Office 2010

2009-08-07T00:41:00.003+05:30

System requirements for office 2010 are :

1. Office 2010 will be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. You need not to worry about the version of windows you are using.You would be asked to choose between 32 & 64 @ time of installation.

2. Office 2010 will run on Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

3. You don't need to replace hardware that is capable of running 2007, it will support Office 2010. Like Windows 7 has demonstrated, MS realize that taking advantage of the hardware you already own is just as important as supporting all the new technology coming out.

Pop Up message when Windows Boots

2009-08-07T00:23:00.005+05:30

When a user gets logon You might want to have a message pop up to display a Welcome message. This can be used to display Instructions,Company Policy,User related information,any alert,warning or anything you wish to do .

Here is the procedure .Open registry by typing regedit in the Run box.Now navigate here.

Navigate to:

HLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\WinLogon

Create a new String Value here called LegalNoticeCaption. Enter whatever messag you want to see in the Title bar of the message that you wish to pop up. Now create another new String Value called LegalNoticeText. Modify it to the message you want to display each time Windows boots.The message will be displayed at the next logon.

This trick works with Windows 7 as well.

Useful Visual Studio 2010 Shortcuts

2009-08-06T22:39:00.003+05:30

You can coment or uncomment multi line Text in a single Go.

Here is what you need to do:

Comment Ctrl+KC Comments all lines @ single select

Uncomment Ctrl+KU UnComments all lines @ single select

Find some more useful shortcuts here

Useful Visual Studio 2010 Shortcuts

Microsoft Store Logo revealed

2009-08-06T22:19:00.002+05:30

Microsoft recently filed patent for Logo for Microsoft store.The logo is very similar to windows logo.Same four colors but geometrically more sound.

According to Zheng@istartedsomething this logo is registered to cover “retail store services and online retail services featuring computers, computer hardware, software, computer games, computer peripherals, portable music players and accessories, personal digital assistants, cell phones and accessories, video game consoles and accessories, webcams, books, clothing, back packs, messenger bags, computer bags and novelty items”.

Download XP Mode RC for Windows 7 and Virtual PC RC

2009-08-06T00:41:00.003+05:30

The release candidate flavor of Windows 7’s XP Mode was released by Microsoft on 5th August 2009.along with the beta variant of Windows Virtual PC.It works with both Windows 7 RTM,RC.

The RC iteration includes a copy of Windows XPService Pack 3, 450 MB in size, along with a Windows Virtual PC file of 5 MB. The XP Mode enables Windows 7 users to run Windows XP applications on Windows 7, and has been designed mainly for small/mid-size business users.

This will keep the users at comfort who wish to use two OS and are fed up of using shutdown-restart-shutdown cycle for migrating the work from 1 version of OS to other (7 to XP in this case)

It ease the migration process to Windows 7 by providing additional compatibility for their older productivity applications. Users can run and launch Windows XP applications in Windows XP Mode directly from a Windows 7 desktop.

New Features in RC version:

You can now attach USB devices to Windows XP Mode applications directly from the Windows 7 task-bar. This means your USB devices, such as printers and flash drives, are available to applications running in Windows XP Mode, without the need to go into full screen mode.
You can now access Windows XP Mode applications with a “jump-list”. Right click on the Windows XP Mode applications from the Windows 7 task bar to select and open most recently used files.
You now have the flexibility of customizing where Windows XP Mode differencing disk files are stored.
You can now disable drive sharing between Windows XP Mode and Windows 7 if you do not need that feature.
The initial setup now includes a new user tutorial about how to use Windows XP Mode.

You can download Windows XP Mode RC and Windows Virtual PC RC using following link:

Download Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode

NOTE: Windows XP Mode RC requires RC or RTM version of Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise. It also requires additional 1 GB of RAM, 15 GB of available disk space, and processor capable of hardware virtualization with AMD-V or Intel VT turned on in the BIOS.

Some part of the post contains contan extract from the post by AskVG

Windows 7 RTM contains a chkdsk bug

2009-08-06T00:38:00.001+05:30

Windows 7 RTM, which will be distributed to MSDN/TechNet and technical beta testers tomorrow, contains a nasty memory leak when the chkdsk command is initiated.

The bug occurs when the CHKDSK /R command is initiated on a non-system volume. Memory usage of the chkdsk.exe process soars until the system is using over 90% physical memory. In some cases this will cause the system to become unresponsive and unstable.

Source : Windows 7 RTM contains a rather nasty chkdsk bug

Registerations open for PDC 09 @ Los Angeles 16-19 Nov

2009-08-06T00:16:00.001+05:30

The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) is Microsoft’s premier gathering of leading-edge developers and architects.Registrations for Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2009 have been opened,as we mentioned earlier the event would be held in Los Angeles, from on November 16 and end on November 19.

The agenda have sessions on SQL Azure, Silverlight, Windows Azure, Office

, SharePoint, xRM, Windows 7, Windows Server, and more. For more necessary details regarding the registration for PDC09 they can be found on Microsoft's PDC site, where more info on the sessions at the conference is also available.

Set Bing Background as Wallpaper & Rotate it

2009-08-06T00:12:00.003+05:30

Daily homepage photos of Bing can be downloaded and used as a wallpaper for your computer that refreshes as soon as it refreshes over Bing.By using the code below, you can create a live daily updating bing theme.Long Zheng from www.istartedsomething.com & makeuseof.com helped get the code which can make the Bing Theme that uses Bing background as a daily wallpaper.

To create the theme, 1st copy and paste the code below in notepad and save it as "Bing.theme"

[[Theme]

DisplayName=Bing

[Slideshow]

Interval=1800000

Shuffle=1

RssFeed=http://feeds.feedburner.com/bingimages

[Control Panel\Desktop]

TileWallpaper=0

WallpaperStyle=0

Pattern=

[Control Panel\Cursors]

AppStarting=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_working.ani

Arrow=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_arrow.cur

Crosshair=

Hand=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_link.cur

Help=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_helpsel.cur

IBeam=

No=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_unavail.cur

NWPen=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_pen.cur

SizeAll=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_move.cur

SizeNESW=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_nesw.cur

SizeNS=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_ns.cur

SizeNWSE=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_nwse.cur

SizeWE=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_ew.cur

UpArrow=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_up.cur

Wait=%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_busy.ani

DefaultValue=Windows Aero

Link=

[VisualStyles]

Path=%SystemRoot%\resources\themes\Aero\Aero.msstyles

ColorStyle=NormalColor

Size=NormalSize

ColorizationColor=0X6B74B8FC

Transparency=1

[MasterThemeSelector]

MTSM=DABJDKT

After you save it, just double click on the theme. file and make sure you select "download attachments" in the pop-up window.

That's it, your bing theme should be good to go. To make sure the photos look their best, select the "Fit" option in the desktop background settings

Themes for Google Chrome

2009-08-05T23:56:00.003+05:30

Google has launches some nice themes for Google Chrome.

But you must have Chrome 3.0 to use those themes.

Few of the themes are here ,

for more themes,You can download these themes from Google Chrome Theme Gallery:

Google Chrome Themes Gallery

Get Vista like taskbar in Windows 7

2009-08-05T12:30:00.002+05:30

New to windows 7? Aint able to go along with it smoothly?
Well here is an option that you can follow to get the Taskbar icons as
the same we had in Vista.In Vista when ever we minimized an
application (folder,word etc) it is accessed by a tab @ taskbar which
describes about process and has a icon as well.But in Windows 7 this
thing has been replaced by an Icon so you cant get any text over
there.
To get back the similar feel in Windows 7 do the following:

Navigate to taskbar & Right Click it.
Open taskbar properties.
Go to option taskbar Buttons.
Here you have 3 options : hidelabels,combine ,never combine
Choose the third one.

It would restore the Taskbar buttons like they were used to be in VIsta.

New Mail Hyperlink feature in Firefox 3.5

2009-08-05T12:22:00.002+05:30

It is very common that we have hyperlink that redirects to mailbox of
a person, on many a webpages.Say you have a website for Transport,the
admin must have given a hotlink that when clicked redirects to mail of
that person.Till now the default client for opening a webmail from the
browser was Outlook only.Using some external application like yattach
or gattach could have changed the things as well or changing setting
in Internet options.But for laymen it wasnt a very easy and
comfortable aspect.
With tha Firefox 3.5 the feature which has been embedded in the
browser is that whenever we click on mail hyperlink there pops a
window with options to choose the mail client for the operation
concerned.You can choose from Outlook,Gmail,Yahoomail or you can
choose some other application for mail operations.
Nice Feature i must say.

Force all folders to Unhide : Pst virus attack counter measures

2009-08-05T12:16:00.002+05:30

Many of us have experienced attack of viruses someday or other.I too
recently experienced one and it was the worst one in last 5 years i
have faced.Nod32 never disappointed me but dont know what happened
this time.My lapy as well as Deski both started showing the
symptoms.although there wasnt any potential harm but all folders had a
Folder 'MSOCACHE' and all folders were hidden too.
Using MSE Beta removed the virus completly but still i wasnt able to
change the hidden folders to Unhidden one.After a lot of Querries &
Binging,Googling i finally found solution from a Freind who is a MVP
as well,Ramesh Kumar.
There is a command that is used to force all folders attribute to unhidden.
Here are the steps:
Simply Go to Run
type 'CMD'
press Enter
Type this command "attrib -h -s -a -r * /s /d"
And you are done.

Google CEO resigned from Apple BOD

2009-08-04T21:40:00.002+05:30

Apple has just announced that Google CEO Eric Schmidt has resigned from his position on Apple's Board of Directors.

Apple's CEO Steve Jobs issued the following statement:

"Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple's core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric's effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple's Board."

Back up your Blogspot Blog

2009-08-03T01:49:00.004+05:30

There's an easy way to backup your blog.This link the last N number of posts from the blog:
http://blogname.blogspot.com/search?max-results=N
Instead of N, type the number of posts. If your blog has less than 1000 posts, you can save this page:
http://blogname.blogspot.com/search?max-results=1000
this will have a single page which has all the posts (1000 in this case)....
Simply save that page and your Posts Backup is there.

For all the images hosted on your blog you may use a firefox extension DownThemAll . It lets you download all the files with a certain extension from the current page, you can very easily save your blog Images.

All posts can be saved in an XML feed as well. This is a clean & better format if you intend to import it in a database.Link to save images as XML feed:
http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?max-results=1000

For the exact number of posts , it can be easily obtained from the dashboard.
http://www.blogger.com/home

What is Windows Azure Platform

2009-08-03T01:12:00.003+05:30

Azure is a cloud services operating system that serves as the development, service hosting and service management environment for the Windows Azure Platform. Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manage Web applications on the Internet through Microsoft data centers.
Azure Services Platform is an application platform in the cloud that allows applications to be hosted and run at Microsoft datacenters. It provides a cloud operating system called Windows Azure that serves as a runtime for the applications and provides a set of services that allows development, management and hosting of managed applications off-premises.All Azure Services and applications built using them run on top of Windows Azure.
Windows Azure can rather be said a version of Windows that runs over the Internet from inside Microsoft's own data centers.

Visual Studio 2010 with Windows Azure Tools

2009-08-03T00:27:00.004+05:30

Cloud Development has become easy with this new version of Visual Studio.With Windows Azure™ Tools for Visual Studio, it's easy for developers to build, debug and deploy services and applications for Microsoft's new cloud platform.

C# and VB Project Templates for building Cloud Services
Tools to change the Service Role configuration
Integrated local development via Development Fabric and Development Storage services
Debugging Cloud Service Roles running in the Development Fabric
Building and packaging of Cloud Service Packages
Browsing to the Azure Services Developer Portal

Although some compatibility issues have been reported with Office 2010 CTP, (which is one of the major software Microsoft is looking for Cloud computing) and Visual studio 2010.But since both these products are in their Beta there might some conflicts Occur .

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit

2009-08-02T22:02:00.001+05:30

The Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos. This content is designed to help you learn how to utilize the Visual Studio 2010 features and a variety of framework technologies including:

C# 4.0
Visual Basic 10
F#
Parallel Extensions
Windows Communication Foundation
Windows Workflow
Windows Presentation Foundation
ASP.NET 4
Entity Framework
ADO.NET Data Services
Managed Extensibility Framework
Visual Studio Team System

This version of the Training Kit works with Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 1.

Get the training kit

Download Visual Studio 2010 Beta

2009-08-02T21:33:00.002+05:30

Try the latest Beta versions of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0
Download here :

Visual Studio Team System 2010 Team Suite Beta 1 - ISO

Visual Studio Team System 2010 Team Foundation Server Beta 1
Visual Studio 2010 Professional Beta 1 – ISO iso 1.2 GB

Visual Studio 2010 Shell (Isolated) Beta 1 Redistributable Pkg

Visual Studio Team System 2010 Lab Agent Beta 1

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 Overview

2009-08-02T21:06:00.005+05:30

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 focuses on the core pillars of developer experience, support for the latest platforms, targeted experiences for specific application types, and core architecture improvements.
Visual Studio 2010 is an exciting release in managed languages and tools. Visual C# and Visual Basic languages continue to evolve towards feature parity, strive to simplify programming and deployment with the Microsoft Office APIs, and allow easy interop to dynamic languages. Visual F# is a new programming language which combines functional, object-oriented and explorative programming to provide a succinct, expressive and scalable language for .NET. In the tools space, Visual Studio 2010 offers greater support for Test-Driven Development, where tests are written before product code as an iterative approach to software design.

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 service pack 1

2009-08-02T20:26:00.002+05:30

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1) continue Microsoft’s investment in market leading development tools and developer platform. SP1 addresses issues that were found through a combination of customer and partner feedback, as well as internal testing. These service packs offer customers improvements in responsiveness, stability and performance.

The .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1) delivers more controls, a streamlined setup, improved start-up performance, and powerful new graphics features for client development and rich data scaffolding, improved AJAX support, and other improvements for Web development. Additionally it introduces support for the ADO.NET Entity Framework and ADO.NET Data Services, which simplify data access code in applications by providing an extensible, conceptual model for data from any data source and enabling this model to closely reflect business requirements.

The .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 delivers:

Performance increases between 20-45% for WPF-based applications – without having to change any code
WCF improvements that give developers more control over the way they access data and services
Streamlined installation experience for client applications
Improvements in the area of data platform, such as the ADO.NET Entity Framework, ADO.NET Data Services and support for SQL Server 2008’s new features
ASP.NET Dynamic Data to facilitate rapid data driven development

Discover more new features in .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

Download the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

Use of Keyboard Shortcuts with Windows Logo Key

2009-08-02T20:04:00.003+05:30

This Windows Logo Key is getting more and more use on Windows and its application. And it gets utilized even much more in Windows 7. Almost each function and new feature in Windows 7 have the keyboard shortcuts alternative that does the same thing, a lot of which are the combination of Windows Logo Key and the letters. Here are numbers of use in Windows 7 that are quite commonly used.

Windows logo key + U	Open the Ease of Access Center
Windows logo key + Tab	Aero 3D program flipper
Windows logo key + Pause	Display System Properties dialog box
Windows logo key + D	Display Desktop
Windows logo key + M	Minimize all windows
Windows logo key + E	Open Windows Explorer
Windows logo key + F	Search for a file or folder
Windows logo key + L	Lock the computer
Windows logo key + R	Open the Run dialog box
Windows logo key + T	Cycle through programs on the taskbar

see more Tricks @ Windows7Hacker

What is Hibernate Option in Windows

2009-08-02T19:47:00.003+05:30

When you turn off your computer using hibernate, the operating system needs to store all your current running program states onto hard disk so that programs can resume where they left off when you power up your PC again. To achieve this, the OS need to save all the information into a file called hiberfil.sys. Windows OS (7, vista, XP) usually stores this as a hidden file under your C directory or your main OS partition.
The size of the hibernation file (hiberfil.sys) will be the same as the amount of installed RAM on your computer.So all the data from RAM is copied directly into this hiberfil.sys on harddisk and RAM loads it when you power up your computer again.
You can also use an Utility VJSTD made by VJ to automate hibernate & other shutdown options.

Bootable USB : Utility to Install Windows 7 from USB

2009-08-02T19:25:00.004+05:30

There is a utility to install Windows Vista or 7 in a system using a bootable USB drive which can be used to install Windows without using DVD drive.
This utility automates the task of installation of Windows.Aris@ AskVG has created this utility which creates a bootable USB drive to install Windows Vista, Server 2008 or 7.It works with both 32 bit & 64 bit Windows Versions.

Requirements :

A USB Drive (4 GB or more)
Windows Vista, Server 2008 or 7 ISO image or DVD
Host OS: Windows Vista (SP1 or SP2), Server 2008 or 7

Its a portable utility so doesn't need installation. Simply run it & Use it.

Download Link (Rapidshare)

Download Link (Mediafire)

Download Link (Skydrive)

ISO Mounting Daemon tool for Windows 7

2009-08-02T18:58:00.002+05:30

Recently i downloaded a game.And after i did i found it is an ISO and none of CD/DVD Mounting tools available with me are not compatible with Windows 7.Solution is Daemon Tools.
DAEMON Tools is an advanced application for Microsoft Windows which provides one of the best optical media emulation in the industry.
With DAEMON Tools you can back up your physical CD/DVD/HD DVD/Blu-ray discs into “virtual discs” or so called “disc image” files, which run directly on your hard drive.
A virtual disc has much better access rates than a physical one in a corresponding physical drive because the reading speed of a virtual CD/DVD/HD DVD/Blu-ray-ROM is 50x faster compared to normal drive.
With DAEMON Tools you would receive up to 32 virtual SCSI drives and 2 virtual IDE drives that behave just like the “real” physical ones.
No more CD/DVD drive noise. No waiting for disc loading. No need to buy external optical drive for your netbook.
Download it

Skype in danger of being shut down

2009-08-02T06:37:00.001+05:30

Back in 2005, eBay bought Skype from Joltid. The 2.6 billion dollar price tag did not include the "Global Index P2P software
" that Skype is based on. Joltid is trying to cancel the license that Skype uses for this technology. If this happens, the Skype service will be shut down permanently.

In a recent quarterly report, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the following was announced:

"Skype licenses peer-to-peer communication technology from Joltid Limited pursuant to a license agreement between the parties. The parties had been discussing a dispute over the license. In March 2009, Skype Technologies S.A. filed a claim in the English High Court of Justice (No. HC09C00756) against Joltid Limited. Following the filing of the claim, Joltid purported to terminate the license agreement between the parties.

Read more @ Neowin

Windows 7 Beta Is Dead

2009-08-02T06:27:00.001+05:30

August 1st, 2009 is the final expiration deadline for Build 7000, which is the first and only Beta development milestone of Windows 7. This means that Windows 7 Beta lived for approximately seven months, judging from the official public release date on January 9, 2009. Following August 1st, testers that insist on running Beta Build 7000 will receive the same experience as if the operating system was pirated.

In all fairness, users still testing Windows 7 Beta have had a transition period. As of July 1st, 2009, copies of Windows 7 Beta still running have been rebooting once every two hours. This was nothing but a prequel to the August 1st death of the Beta development milestone and means that the people still using Windows 7 Beta need to find an alternative, and fast.

Read more @ softpedia

Windows 7 RTM Party Pics

2009-07-31T21:04:00.000+05:30

I found the stuff on msdn blog . These guys celebrated the release of Windows 7 RTM & Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM.

This association had members of the Windows development generalization Department (Well thats what i could figure about it even after Translation by MS Translator)

Here is the Party Images:

Unusual menu at party mentioning Windows 7 cocktails.

And desserts.The cake featured Windows 7 RTM birthday (official one) i.e. 22July2009.

How Much Is A Petabyte?

2009-07-31T20:52:00.000+05:30

How much a Petabyte costs?

Although PB has same relationship with TB like TB has with GB,but you would really like to read this one.

Found this one on a blog.A really Interesting read....

http://mozy.com/blog/misc/how-much-is-a-petabyte/

Adobe patches ten critical vulnerabilities in Flash Player and AIR updates

2009-07-31T20:50:00.000+05:30

Adobe has shipped the much-awaited updates for its Flash Player and AIR products that fix a considerable number of critical vulnerabilities, some of which are actively being exploited in the wild. Patches for Adobe Reader and Acrobat are also scheduled for release today. This past month has not been an easy one for Adobe's security team. On July 22nd, security researchers reported that a zero-day Flash Player vulnerability was being exploited in the wild to infect computers with malware.

Windows 7 OEM Leaked Product Key is Blackisted

2009-07-31T20:36:00.000+05:30

There was leak of a special product key issued to an OEM partner of ours. The key is for use with Windows 7 Ultimate RTM product that is meant to be pre-installed by the OEM on new PCs to be shipped later this year. As such, the use of this key requires having a PC from the manufacturer it was issued to.

According to Director of Genuine Windows at Microsoft: "we've worked with that manufacturer so that customers who purchase genuine copies of Windows 7 from this manufacturer will experience no issues validating their copy of Windows 7. At the same time we will seek to alert customers who are using the leaked key that they are running a non-genuine copy of Windows. It's important to note that no PCs will be sold that will use this key."

Microsoft have worked with Lenovo to blacklist the master key before Windows 7 starts Shipping.Well i think the Pirates would wait till Shipping starts....

Retrieve Built Details & other Information of Windows Installed

2009-07-31T20:17:00.000+05:30

Often Techies feel to have the Built number of OS they r using.Like I felt .Few OS versions have this info at the Desktop screen like Windows 7 Beta,RC had but few dont have .To find out these details and much more info like product edition, build number and revision number for Windows Vista,Windows Server 2008,Windows 7 that is installed, follow these steps:

Open Registry Editor by typing Regedit in Start Search, then hit Enter.
Go to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
In the right side pane, you will see lots of registry subkeys and its value date. These keys will give you the required information about your OS.....

ProductName : of Windows
EditionID : edition aka flavour of the OS.
BuildLabEx: Contains build and revision number
Current Build : contains build number
Registered Owner
Registered Organization

Windows Vista & 7 would require Admin priv. to open Registry Editor

OpenSolaris 2009.06 : New Features

2009-07-31T17:40:00.000+05:30

OpenSolaris 2009.06 is the latest release of the OpenSolaris Operating System, a powerful and complete operating environment for users, developers and deployers. OpenSolaris prides itself on being a secure, stable, and highly scalable system. The OpenSolaris OS is open source software, and freely re-distributable and provides all the tools users expect from a modern computing environment both installed by default and available on our online network package repositories.OpenSolaris gives you next generation Solaris technologies coupled with the best in open source software and a vibrant development community.

OpenSolaris 2009.06 is also the first official release to come to the SPARC platform.

Download OpenSolaris 2009.06 today.

New Features in Opensolaris : Opensolaris

Deep Zoom Composer

2009-07-31T16:50:00.000+05:30

Deep Zoom Composer, a tool to allow the preparation of images for use with the Deep Zoom feature in Silverlight 3. The new Deep Zoom technology in Silverlight allows users to see images on the Web like they never have before. The smooth in-place zooming and panning that Deep Zoom allows is a true advancement and raises the bar on what image viewing should be. High resolution images need to be prepared for use with Deep Zoom and this tool allows the user to create Deep Zoom composition files that control the zooming experience and then export all the necessary files for deployment with Silverlight 3.

Download here

e.g

Its same as wikimapia/GoogleEarth when we zoom a part of image it deepens that part and zoomed image has the same quality as the part from which it was triggered.
http://student-partners.com/photochain.aspx this app is made by MSP's using deep Zoom technology
Deep zoom Obama: this one i saw @ Microsoft Day,Gurgaon http://www.deepzoomobama.com/

Have a look and make the most of this wonderful Technology

VLC Media Player Portable

2009-07-31T14:09:00.000+05:30

VLC Media Player Portable is the popular VLC media player packaged as a portable app, so you can take your audio and video files along with everything you need to play them on the go. You can place it on your USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive or a CD and use it on any computer, without leaving any personal information behind.

Download

Prtable Firefox : for USB Drives

2009-07-31T13:59:00.000+05:30

Portable Firefox is a fully functional package of Firefox optimized for use on a USB key drive. It has some specially-selected optimizations to make it perform faster and extend the life of your USB key as well as a specialized launcher that will allow most of your favorite extensions to work as you switch computers. It will also work from a CDRW drive (in packet mode), ZIP drives, external hard drives, some MP3 players, flash RAM cards and more (Note: It will not run from read-only media like a CD-R).

It also allows yoy to take your passwords & bookmarks along you.So you never need to worry of deadly Keyloggers again.

Download Size 8.9 MB

Australia Recognises Its First Visually Impaired MVP

2009-07-31T12:21:00.000+05:30

Picture Credit – Vision Australia

MVP Kenny Johar was recently awarded the Microsoft MVP Award, for his contributions towards Internet Explorer. He has carved out a successful IT career by helping to make technology, more accessible to Australia's visually impaired. News of his Award, was also picked up by The Australian newspaper and you can read an excerpt of the interview below.

Kenny was diagnosed with problems to his eyesight during the final years of high school, and had intended to follow in his father's footsteps and become a doctor. The news that he had retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative sight condition, came as a crushing blow.

"It's like a domino effect," he said. "When I started there were lots of obstacles for people with vision impairment to get into the IT industry, and I take a huge sense of achievement from the fact I am opening a floodgate for others to follow".

"I had strong aspirations to be a neurologist," he recalled. "I was very interested in the human brain, and then I learned that no matter how hard I worked I was never going to be able to get there, so I had to change the direction of my career".

Everything changed when he got a laptop computer with a screen reader that allowed the information in programs and on web pages to be read aloud to him.

"Suddenly the world opened up again for me," he said. "To have something come into my life and give me such a strong ray of hope for the future made me realise how powerful a tool technology was".

Kenny is now helping to roll out a new software package that will assist vision-impaired people to go online. He remains optimistic that the IT industry will offer more opportunities to blind people. "It's not about a disability, it's about your attitude, and I think for people who come after me it's not going to be a big deal; it won't be a taboo anymore".

You can read Kenny’s full interview with The Australian here.

What is Google Wave

2009-07-31T01:00:00.000+05:30

Here's how it works: In Google Wave you create a wave and add people to it. Everyone on your wave can use richly formatted text, photos, gadgets, and even feeds from other sources on the web. They can insert a reply or edit the wave directly. It's concurrent rich-text editing, where you see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing in your wave. That means Google Wave is just as well suited for quick messages as for persistent content — it allows for both collaboration and communication. You can also use "playback" to rewind the wave and see how it evolved.

Google Wave

2009-07-31T00:40:00.000+05:30

Kurkure contains Plastic...!! Really??

2009-07-31T00:23:00.000+05:30

Is it really the one of fav snack KURKURE contains plastic??I have received mails / messages in past claiming Kurkure being an unhealthy snack or presence of plastic in Kurkure.When we burn Kurkure Plastic melts? Is this true?Thats what PepsiCo Replies:

At the outset, we wish to assure you that there is no merit in any of the contentions you have seen in the chain mail.Kurkure is not only the safest product but is also a healthier snack. We would also like to inform you that Kurkure is made with Rice bran oil. Rice Bran Oil (RBO) is one of the healthier oils because it is naturally high in the good fats (MUFA and PUFA) and low in saturated fats. By cooking Frito Lay range of products in RICE BRAN oil, the saturated fat has been reduced by 40%. Saturates are the ones to watch out for, because too much saturated fat can contribute to increased blood cholesterol levels. The contents of the mail is, therefore, totally baseless.Do write to us if you wish to seek any further clarification in this regard. It would be our privilege to be of assistance to you.

For more details chk here http://www.kurkure.in/FAQ.aspx

Cyber Dimensions....

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