Eight ways to save time with Windows 7

1. Send an email straight from your desktop
If there’s someone you often send mail to, you can add a shortcut to your desktop to create a new email. Make a new shortcut and type in mailto: followed by your recipient’s email address, for example mailto:windowsvista@futurenet.co.uk. Click Next, give the shortcut a meaningful name and then click Finish. The new shortcut will appear on your desktop, and double-clicking it will open up a blank email in your default email editor with the recipient’s address already filled in.

2. Quickly check your network connection status from your desktop
You can create a shortcut to quickly check the status of your internet connection, saving you the effort of clicking through a number of windows and folders. Go to Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Manage network connections. Right-click on the connection you want to check the status of and select Create Shortcut. This will place a shortcut on your desktop, and when you double-click it you will be taken directly to the status page of your connection.

3. Create shortcuts to your favourite web sites
You can save time by having shortcuts to frequently visited web sites on your desktop. Browse to the page that you want quick access to, and then drag and drop the small icon on the left of the address bar to your desktop. Now all you need to do is double-click the shortcut to go straight to the page.

4. Get all your breaking news in one place with RSS feeds
If you have a number of news sites that you check regularly you can save time by subscribing to their RSS feed (click on the orange RSS icon on the web site). This sends their latest headlines directly to your RSS reader (such as Microsoft Outlook or Internet Explorer), allowing you to keep up to date with all your favourite sites in one place. The RSS feed for this web site is http://www.windowsvistamagazine.com/UK/rss/RssHandler2.axd?nodeId=0&list=&types

5. Use Start Search
Use the Start Search to quickly launch programs rather than trawling through your computer to get them. Below are some handy phrases to type into the search to bring up the application straight away. Depending on what you have installed on your computer you may be able to find other phrases to launch your programs with, so it is worth experimenting.

• CMD = Command prompt
• DEV = Device Manager
• SYS = System Restore
• NETW = Connect to a Network Projector
• UPD = Windows Update
• PROG = Default Programs
• EVE = Event viewer

6. Get the App Launcher sidebar gadget
There are a number of gadgets available from http://gallery.live.com/ that can help you speed up your computer use. The App Launcher gadget grants you fast access to files and folders by clicking on an icon that instantly launches them. It helps keep your desktop and Quick Launch free from clutter. ]

7. Install Launchy
Launchy is a powerful keystroke launcher, which is accessed by pressing Alt and Space bar. You can then type in the name of the application, file or web site you want to launch and press Enter. Launchy is intelligent enough to guess pretty accurately what you are looking for whilst you type, so by just typing goo then pressing Enter will open Google. You can download it for free at www.launchy.net

8. Use Task Scheduler to automate tasks
Save yourself a lot of time by using Task Scheduler to make Windows Vista automatically perform certain tasks. Type ‘Task Scheduler’ into Start Search and select what you want it to do, from defragmenting your hard drive to backing up your files, and when.

Source: http://www.windowsvistamagazine.com/UK/05582469249883870084/eight-ways-to-save-time-with-windows-vista.html

Windows Vista and Windows 7 Black Screen on Computer Unlock

Users running Windows Vista and Windows 7 might experience a Black Screen when they attempt to unlock their machine in certain conditions as follow
1. A Windows Vista or Windows 7 computer is running the "Aero" graphics mode.
2. The Windows Vista or Windows 7 computer is subject to additional security restrictions and security software, such as might be the case in the enterprise, or with mandated security settings and software such as DISA or DoD requirements.
3. The computer is locked and left undisturbed long enough for the screen to go black, which is 20 minutes with the default power policy of "Balanced".
4. A person unlocks the computer by entering their user credentials.

After the credential are entered the screen goes black, and remains black for as much as 10 minutes or longer. The machine is not "hard-locked", as periodic disk-drive activity may be noted from the disk-drive indicator light on the computer, if so equipped.

Cause:
A problem with some layer of security software causes the Desktop Window Manager to wait for an unspecified amount of time.

Resolution:
1. A temporary workaround is to Stop and Disable the "Desktop Window Manager Session Manager" service. Disabling this service will turn off the "Aero" graphics display feature, which will disable certain features such as Aero Peek, Aero Snap, Aero Shake, and so on. To disable this service:
a. Click the Start button, type "services.msc" and then press the ENTER key, or click the icon that comes up under "Programs" in the Instant Search box.
b. Locate and then double-click the Desktop Window Manager Session Manager service.
c. Locate the "Startup type" dropdown and change the value to "disabled".
d. Locate and click the button labeled "Stop".
e. Click the Apply button, and then click the OK button.

Alternatively you can run the following commands from an elevated CMD prompt to set the service properties of the Desktop Window Manager Session Manager service to not running and disabled:

net stop UxSms
sc config UxSms start= disabled

To return the settings for the Desktop Window Manager Session Manager service to normal via the CMD line:

sc config UxSms start= auto
net start UxSms

2. Updated display drivers may resolve this issue. You can determine the manufacturer of the display adapter by following these steps:

1. Click Start, and in the "Search Programs and Folder" text box, type in "MSINFO32" (without quotation marks) and press ENTER.
NOTE: The System Information tool should appear.
2. On the left-hand section called "System Summary" locate Components, and under Components locate and click on Display.
3. The right-hand section of System Information should now display information about the display system in the computer. The item called "Name" should indicate the type of display adapter.
4. At this point you can go to the Internet web site of the vendor, or the vendor of your computer to locate updated drivers.
5. In some cases you may be offered updated video drivers by running Windows Update.
6. If you are not sure of which drivers to install, contact the vendor of your computer hardware for assistance in locating an updated display driver package.

3. The final solution is to discover what layer of security software is causing the temporary blocking which renders the screen black and therefore unusable. That layer of software would need to be uninstalled or updated to prevent the blocking condition in the Desktop Window Manager.

Source:
• KB2431700

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Beta Frequently Asked Questions

The Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta is now available for download from Microsoft Download Center (Read more »), but there are some questions around the release. Therefore, Microsoft offers a list of Frequently Asked Questions as follow.

Windows 7 RC Build 7100 Installation

Installing Windows 7 RC (Build 7100) on a virtual computer that is running on SUN VirtualBox 2.2.2 r46594.


Windows 7 RC System Requirements.
Windows 7 RC Build 7100 is the minimum system requirements:

• CPU: 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit.
• Memory: 1 GB for 32-bit version and the 2 GB version for 64-bit.
• Disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit version and 20 GB version for 64-bit.
• Graphics: DirectX 9 and support Windows Display Driver Model 1.0 or higher for use Aero theme.
• Other: DVD-R / W Drive, Internet access (for Windows 7 RC downloads and Update).

Install Windows 7 RC (Build 7100).
Installing Windows 7 RC (Build 7100) with the following steps.

1. when booting the computer with the Windows Setup disc to the screen Windows is loading files and then wait until the work is completed.

2. in the Install Windows window, select the language you want. And other settings. Needs. Finished, click Next to go to the next step.
Choose:

• Language to install: English.
• Time and currency format: English (United States).
• Keyboard or input method: US.

3. In the next window, click Install Now to start the installation.

4. to read the License Terms window is finished, click the License Terms check box I accept the license terms, then click Next to proceed to the next page.

5. in the window Which type of installation do you want? To choose a Custom (Advanced).

6. in a Where do you want to install Windows? Select the Hard Disk to install. Finished, click Next.

7. the system will start installing Windows, the following will be performed by the Copying files, Expanding files, Installing features and Installing updates after the installation process Installing updates done will restart after restart the system 1 is completed. After Completing Installation step to step Completing Installation will be completed and then restart the system again 1.

8. In the Set Up Windows window, select the User name and name the computer, type the User name you want in the box under Type a user name: Enter the computer to the box under the Type a computer name: Done Click Next.

9. in the window next to Set Up Windows system to set a password for the User name created in step 8 to enter the password 2 times in the box under Type a password (recommended): and Retype your password: and then type. Help remember your password in the box Type a password hint: finished Click Next.

Note:
In Step 9 does not need to set a password. However, to add security to the system. I recommend to set a password. In the event that will require a password to help remember your password data set. System is to allow operations in the next step.

10. in a Type your product key for activation number to enter Product Key (This step is not necessary to enter any options, click Finish Next.

Note: I recommend the Clear check box. Automatically activate Windows when I'm online.

11. in a Help protect your computer and improve Windows automatically, select Use recommended settings or Install important updates only, or Ask me later.

12. in a Review your time and date settings to make the Time Zone in the area used by Windows 7 is changed from GMT +07:00 to UTC +07.00 is finished, click Next.

13. in the window Select your computer's current location to the Home network or Work network or Public network.

14. Windows will prepare the system settings. Defined in the above steps. When finished it will show the Desktop as below.


Figure 1 Windows 7 RC Desktop

• Windows 7 RC Log on Screen.
When start the computer using Windows 7 RC Page Log on Screen will have the form below. This version is different from version Beta Build 7000.


Figure 2 Log on Screen

• Version number of Windows 7 RC.
After installing Windows 7 RC finished. Can view the version number by running the command winver.exe (Click Start, type winver in the box Search programs and files, then press Enter) when you view the version of Windows 7 Build 7100 version number is 6.1 (Build 7100) and will expire on the 2nd March 2553

Note: If running the ver.exe command at command-prompt, the version number is 6.1.7100.


Figure 3 Windows 7 RC Version Number

Windows 7 RC available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers

Microsoft open to download Windows 7 Release Candidate.
Date 30 April 2009, Microsoft has used the TechNet and MSDN subscribers to download a Windows 7 RC. The RC version will continue to be a Windows 7 Ultimate and both 32-bit version and 64-bit in the 5th with language is English, French, Japanese, German and Spanish.