Computer News

Not As Easy As It Looks
SpaceX found out that it ain’t easy trying be like NASA.

Looking Good
Neowin has gotten to a new look. Too bad their lead article is lame. Still, Neowin, You Look Marvelous!

God Speed Big X
Famed actor/director/producer Richard Attenborough passed away today.
A Bridge Too Far and The Great Escape are among my all-time favs.
Wikipedia – Richard Attenborough

Shame On You
The freeware screen recorder CamStudio now contains foistware and/or malware. It is even being discussed in their forums.
As of this writing, the old version at Major Geeks is still good. Version CamStudio_2.7_r316_setup.exe is what you are looking for. DO NOT update after installing.
The once great zip utility IZarc apparently is guilty of the same thing. I moved on to 7-Zip long ago.
I will be updating the freeware guides this week to reflect the change.

Software
Acronis TI 2014 Update 3 build 6688. Log in to your account for the update.

Reader Email
Q: In windows 7 you showed us how to avoid the 100MB partition during a clean install using diskpart. Is this necessary to do in win 8/8.1? Could you still do the clean command and partition creation and format? Or is it better just to install it to an unallocated space?

My Answer:
Short answer is that you can use the same procedure you used for Windows 7.*
That little partition works a little different on Windows 8/8.1 than it did on Windows 7 and is usually larger than 100mb.
My advice:
1 – Before partitioning and installing, disconnect all drives except the drive you wish to install Windows on.
2 – If your computer uses UEFI instead of BIOS I highly suggest you use a blank drive and let Windows 8/8.1 handle the partitioning.
3 – If you are an advanced user see:
See TechNet – Hard Drives and Partitions Hard Drives and Partitions
Specifically:
Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Drive Partitions
Sample: Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Drive Partitions by Using Windows Setup
Sample: Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Drive Partitions by Using Windows PE and DiskPart

and

Configure BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Drive Partitions
Sample: Configure BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Drive Partitions by Using Windows Setup
Sample: Configure BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Disk Partitions by Using Windows PE and DiskPart
and

DiskPart Commands

*I should note that I currently do not use UEFI on any of my computers.

#1
Q – Hi Eric I’m one of your long time readers and just thought i would let you know that UBCD4Win has be discontinued and just wondering if you had any new recommendations.

A – Yeah,the UBCD4Win was given up several years ago. I believe the creator had financial issues and sold the domain too.
You can grab the last image at Major Geeks: http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/ubcd4win.html

As for an alternative, Hiren’s is good: http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd

If you are looking for something more modern you’ll have to manually create one.
Usually this involves creating a WinPE disk and can be quite involved. See:
http://winbuilder.net/
http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php
http://reboot.pro/
http://winbuilder.net/

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#2
Q – Hello i was following your tweak guide for windows 7 and when i got to the regedit tweak i noticed that some of the entries weren’t in that particular folder mentioned for example:
“HungAppTimeout”=”4000?
“WaitToKillAppTimeout”=”5000?
do i just add them as a string or dword or do i just leave it alone? i also dont have an entrie for the 8.3 names and last access.
any help would be highly appreciated thank you

A – Yes, some entries need to be created.
Download the file below, edit it as you see fit, change the file extension from .txt to .reg, double-click to apply, reboot.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iwsanqf4ak6nm9g/TweakHound_Win7_Tweaks.txt

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#3
Q – As I understand it, power saver can help you get the most from a single battery charge on a laptop. High performance maximizes screen brightness and might increase PC performance so this would be bet for a laptop that is plugged in 24/7? So when would I want to used Balanced if unplugged = power saver and plugged in = high performance?
Also, where do keep your slider bars for “Adjust plan brightness” for each plan?” I didn’t see it in the guide. Mine are all the way up for all three plans for both plugged in and battery. Don’t think they should be.

A – As I said in the Windows 8.1 Tweak Guide, “I use all 3 plans: High Perf on the desktop, Balanced on a laptop, and Power saver on the laptop while traveling.” You can adjust (and save) these plans as you see fit.
As to display brightness. This is personal preference (and will change with age). Obviously, the brighter the display the more you will consume power.
For laptop that is on battery power I would recommend.
High Perf: From the lowest comfortable setting to Max.
Balanced: the lowest comfortable setting.
Power Saver: the lowest usable setting.