Nov 17 2009

Tweaking Windows 7

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 3:00 pm

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.

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Nov 12 2009

Windows 7 Superfetch

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 2:19 pm

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)

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Nov 03 2009

Thurrott – Windows 7 Clean Install From Upgrade

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 4:33 pm

Paul Thurrott has got all the workarounds for doing a clean install from Upgrade media:
Paul Thurrott – Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media

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Oct 26 2009

New Intel SSD Downloads

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 3:27 pm

*IMPORTANT UPDATE
Intel has pulled the firmware update. It seems it is cause no shortage of problems for people (thankfully it didn’t bite me. yet…).
See this thread at the Intel forums.

Intel SATA SSD Firmware Update Tool v1.4
This firmware update tool provides the latest firmware for the following Intel SSDs in all capacities:
- Intel® X25-M/X18-M SATA SSD on 50nm (black case) – updates to FW version 8820
- Intel® X25-E SATA SSD on 50nm (black case) – updates to FW version 8850
- Intel® X25-M/X18-M SATA SSD on 34nm (silver case) – updates to FW version 02HA

Intel Solid-State Drive Toolbox v1.1
The Intel® SSD Toolbox provides a set of applications to easily manage the health and optimize the performance of your Intel SSD. The Toolbox includes a powerful set of management, information, and diagnostic tools, and is designed to work best with 34nm Intel® High Performance SSDs.
The Intel SSD Optimizer utilizes the new ATA Data Set Management Command (Trim Attribute) to help maintain performance of the 34nm Intel® High Performance SSD at out-of-the-box levels and is specifically designed to run with Microsoft Windows 7*. Intel SSD Optimizer also works with Windows Vista* and XP* through the use of the Intel SSD Toolbox.

*edit – Anandtech has benchmarks and more info: The SSD Improv: Intel & Indilinx get TRIM, Kingston Brings Intel Down to $115

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Oct 15 2009

Installing Windows 7

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 12:59 pm

I’ve completed my guide on Installing Windows 7 . I hope you find it useful.

I have also begun work on the Windows 7 page. I could really use some good links for this page if you have any.

Some you have asked if I’m working on a Windows 7 Tweak Guide. Of course I am. It will be a bit different than previous tweak guides.The first reason for that is that Windows 7 needs far less performance tuning than Vista and XP (but there are some tweaks here and there). The second reason is that there are a ton of new features in Windows 7. While I will show you how to turn some of these off, I hope to explain why these features may just help you get things done faster and to tweak the features to your needs. Writing, researching, testing, and double-checking all this does take a considerable amount of time though. I do not know if it will be ready by the launch date or not (Oct. 22nd) but I’m trying.

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Oct 13 2009

Windows 7 Home Group Papers

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 4:30 pm

Windows 7 & HomeGroup: Sharing with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and other operating systems
HomeGroup Overview

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Oct 01 2009

The Complete Windows 7 Product Guide & eBook from Microsoft

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 3:46 pm

The Windows Club has posted an informational guide to Windows Seven. You can view it there or download the pdf.
I think it is one heck of guide. I’ve downloaded it and bookmarked the page so that I can pass it along to others.

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Jun 25 2009

Windows 7 Pricing

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 6:57 pm

Paul Thurrott has the scoop. Be sure to check the section entitled “Save big with Windows 7 pre-orders“.

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Jun 10 2009

Mark Russinovich – Inside Windows 7 UAC

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 2:33 pm

Mark Russinovich – Inside Windows 7 User Account Control

In this post, I’ll cover the motivations behind UAC’s technologies, revisit the relationship between UAC and security, describe the two new modes, and explain how exactly auto-elevation works. Note that the information in this post reflects the behavior of the Windows 7 release candidate, which is different in several ways from the beta.

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May 18 2009

Paul Thurrott – Windows 7, October 15

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 12:00 pm

Microsoft also says it will finalize Windows 7 in mid-August and deliver it to the public in time for the 2009 holiday season. I can tell you, however, that the general availability date is a lot more specific than that: You’ll be able to get the final version of Windows 7 publicly on October 15, 2009, according to the current schedule.

Paul’s Article
Source – Neowin

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May 07 2009

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 6:30 pm

Overview
Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor scans your PC’s system, programs and devices to check if it’s able to run Windows 7. After a few minutes, the report will let you know if your PC meets the system requirements, if there are any known compatibility issues with your programs and devices, and will also provide guidance on your upgrade options to Windows 7.
System Requirements
* Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7; Windows Vista; Windows XP Service Pack 2
* .NET 2.0 Framework or higher if running on Windows XP

Download Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta
Click below for pics from XP & Vista
Continue reading “Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta”

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May 05 2009

Windows 7 RC Available

Category: Computer NewsEric (a.k.a. TweakHound) @ 6:51 am

Hit up Neowin for download links.

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