Nov 26 2009
Windows 7 Twinkle Wish Theme
Microsoft has a Christmas type theme available called “Twinkle Wish”. You can get it from the themes home page or download it. (source: Bink)
Comments Off
Nov 26 2009
Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 On Sale
MS Black Friday deal: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 for $79.99. This is the download version from the Microsoft Store. Includes 3 home PC licenses. Sale expires Nov. 30, 2009.
Links at the MS Office home page.
Lowest price I can find to order the CD is at Newegg for $64.95 + free shipping (don’t know when that deal expires).
Comments Off
Nov 26 2009
The Microsoft Security Update Guide
“This Guide was designed to help IT professionals better understand and use Microsoft security release information, processes, communications, and tools.”
Aimed at IT people but Geeks my find some good info here on the what,whys, and hows of Windows Updates.
The Microsoft Security Update Guide
Comments Off
Nov 26 2009
CCleaner 2.26 Released
v2.26.1050
——————————————–
- Added support to clean Windows DNS cache.
- Added vacuum SQLite databases for Firefox and Google Chrome.
- Added publisher and version to Uninstall tool.
- Added Taskbar jump list tasks for Windows 7.
- Added Taskbar Progress for Windows 7.
- Improved Exclude list registry keys addition functionality in 64bit Windows 7.
- Improved Registry Cleaner detection algorithm and 64-bit file system redirection.
- Improved “Save to text file” functionality in Cleaner screen.
- Improved system tray icon activation and tooltip.
- Improved Registry screen “fix selected issues” dialog usability by removing prompt.
- Further improved RECURSE and REMOVESELF functionality.
- Improved Uninstall screen detection algorithm.
- Improved memory usage to avoid GDI leaks.
- Fixed issue with Sticky Notes being detected as Missing startup item.
- Fixed “Edit” and “Remove” button availability on Include/Exclude screen.
- Fixed various GUI bugs.
Comments Off
Nov 26 2009
Nvidia 195.62 WHQL Drivers Out
New in Version 195.62
* Adds GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with the new Adobe Flash 10.1 beta. Learn more here.
* Adds support for GeForce GT 240.
* Adds support for OpenCL 1.0 (Open Computing Language) for all GeForce 8-series and later GPUs.
* Adds support for CUDA Toolkit 3.0 features and performance enhancements. See CUDA Zone for more details.
* Adds SLI and multi-GPU support for many top new gaming titles including Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA Soccer 10, and more.
* Includes numerous bug fixes including improved performance for Need for Speed: Shift. Refer to the release notes on the documentation tab for information about the key bug fixes in this release.
* Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.
Comments Off
Nov 17 2009
openSUSE 11.2 and Fedora 12 released
Fedora 12 was released today. I’ve been so busy I missed the openSUSE 11.2 release. Lots of new features in these releases.
Downloads and info:
openSUSE.org
Fedora Project
Comments Off
Nov 17 2009
ATI Catalyst 9.11 Drivers Available
Cat 9.11’s are out for XP, Vista, and Windows 7. Get’em here
These are also available for Linux at the main ATI driver page.
Comments Off
Nov 17 2009
Tweaking Windows 7
My Tweaking Windows 7 guide is done (finally). I hope you find it useful.
Please help spread the word to your favorite website, friends, and family.
After so many hours of writing and editing everything tends to get a little jumbled in my mind. Please post any errors, suggestions in this post.
How long did it take to research and write? I don’t really know. More than a 100 hours, less than a 1000.
This labor of love started when Windows 7 beta was released. I am really impressed with Windows 7.
My goal of this guide was to make it a little easier to understand for the non-geek (thus it is screen-shot heavy).
It was also to ensure that the tweaks were safe and worked as advertised.
Verifying, and testing many of these tweaks required installs on laptops & desktops, 32&64-bit, UAC on & off, networked & not, etc.
Nov 17 2009
Updated Intel Statement On SSD Firmware Issues
Just saw this updated statement in the Intel SSD forums:
Intel Solid-State Drive Firmware Update — Nov. 16, 2009
Intel has confirmed an issue with the firmware update process for 34nm (G2) Intel® X25-M SSDs (80GB and 160GB). This predominantly affected Windows* 7 (64bit) users during or immediately after the upgrade process to 02HA firmware using the firmware update tool (version 1.3). Intel plans to release a fix for this issue by the end of November 2009.
Please see below to decide what you should do:
– If you have not upgraded to 02HA but using 02G2 or 02G9 – then use new tool when available to upgrade to new firmware to get Trim support and better sequential write performance (160GB)
– If you have successfully upgraded to 02HA – then continue using the SSD, there are no known issues.
– If you have received a SSD with 02HA pre installed – then continue using the SSD, there are no known issues.
– If you have unsuccessfully upgraded to 02HA – then contact Intel Customer Support for instructions on how to recover the SSD via secure erase or return SSD to Intel for replacement or refund.
http://communities.intel.com/community/tech/solidstate?view=discussions
Comments Off
Nov 12 2009
Windows 7 Superfetch
I’m about 2/3 of the way done with writing the Windows 7 tweak guide. I’ve come across an issue that I need some help with. It applies to SSD’s. During my research I found these 2 statements:
“In Windows 7, SuperFetch is automatically enabled for disks that have a low Windows Experience Disk Score and disabled for disks that have a high score.”
Performance Testing Guide for Windows
and
“If the system disk is an SSD, and the SSD performs adequately on random reads and doesn’t have glaring performance issues with random writes or flushes, then Superfetch, boot prefetching, application launch prefetching, ReadyBoost and ReadDrive will all be disabled.” Engineering Windows 7 – Support and Q&A for Solid-State Drives
One problem with the above 2 statements. I have an SSD disk (specifically the Intel X25-M Generation 2). My Windows Experience score for Primary hard disk is 7.7 (out a possible 7.9). This was a clean install to this disk, not a clone or image. According to the above statements Windows 7 should have disabled Superfetch. Windows 7 did not disable the service nor adjust the registry settings. It is visable via Task Manager (SysMain) and is actively using system resources.
I’m interested if anyone has had Windows 7 disable this as they claim.
I would also like to know what qualifies as a high “Windows Experience Disk Score” according to Microsoft. (not really expecting an answer on this)
Nov 11 2009
SyncToy 2.1 Released
My favorite file backup tool has been updated (source). Be sure to read the instructions on the download page before using. Download SyncToy 2.1.
Comments Off
Next Page »
