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Dec 01

Windows 7 Black Screen of Death? (It’s not as bad as it sounds)

Posted in: Microsoft, security, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7, Windows7

Well, maybe it’s not as bad as it sounds, but it’s still not so good. As you’re probably aware, over the last week or so Windows users of all stripes (not just Windows 7 users, as it turns out) have been complaining of a plain black screen that appears upon login — at which point the systems lock up, and… that’s it. Aside from some users getting an additional My Computer window (lucky devils) the system grinds to a halt. According to a Microsoft email that’s making the rounds, the company is “investigating reports that its latest release of security updates is resulting in system issues for some customers.” Until that time, what’s a poor PC user to do? Prevx, a UK developer of anti-malware software, has surmised that a recent Windows security patch changed Access Control List (ACL) entries in the registry, preventing some software from running properly and prompting Engadget to whip up a Bergman-inspired graphic. If your machine should find itself afflicted, Prevx has put together a fix that it claims will do the trick. Keep in mind that we don’t know these guys, so don’t blame us if it blows up your computer — or gives you the Bubonic plague. We’ll let you know when we hear back from Microsoft on this one. Good luck!

Update: Microsoft says this isn’t its fault, and that it’s likely some nasty malware to blame.

Windows 7 Black Screen of Death? (It’s not as bad as it sounds) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink BBC | source Prevx | Email this | Comments

Nov 25

Microsoft opens PC lounge in Saks Fifth Avenue for holiday season

Posted in: Displays, Microsoft, new-york, retail, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7, Windows7

We all know Microsoft’s feeling pretty smug — and with good reason — about Windows 7 right now. In an effort to drum up yet more hype for its latest OS, and perhaps to try and gauge customer interest in an East coast Store, Microsoft has decided to open up a cozy “PC lounge” inside Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship New York store — you know, the one that actually is on Fifth Avenue. As part of the agreement, Windows 7 will be used to drive Saks’ window displays, and opportunities will be provided for customers to interact with the new software throughout the building. The lounge itself will be populated by Windows 7 laptops and Microsoft experts, who’ll probably answer your questions in the sort of overly peppy, commercial way that makes us wonder why anyone goes to offline shops in the first place.

Microsoft opens PC lounge in Saks Fifth Avenue for holiday season originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista | source Microsoft | Email this | Comments

Nov 23

For Netbooks, Windows 7 and Chrome Make a Perfect Match

Posted in: Chrome, chrome os, Google, Microsoft, netbooks, Notebooks, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7

Windows 7 plus Google’s Chrome browser is an excellent netbook combination.

The two together make pretty good use of a netbook’s most limited resources: screen size and processor power. The result is a surprisingly pleasant combination for browsing, working in GMail and Google Docs, and other lightweight tasks.

In other words, Google might be onto something with its plans to make a Chrome-based operating system for netbooks.

Over the weekend, I finally got around to upgrading the computers at home to Windows 7. As part of the chore, I also switched my MSI Wind hackintosh to Windows 7. It had been functioning primarily as the kids’ computer, although I use it for work in a pinch — for example, I used it when I was covering the Google Chrome OS press conference in Mountain View last week — and occasionally for checking e-mail at home. Running OS X on the Wind was a way of making it easier for the children to use, but it had persistent drawbacks: For instance, the trackpad didn’t always behave as expected, and the screen was sometimes squashed into the left two-thirds of the display, leaving a big black bar along the right side that only disappeared after rebooting.

That’s not a criticism of OS X. After all, it’s not made to run on a netbook, and by forcing it to do so, you have to be willing to accept the tradeoffs and bugginess that come with any hack. And, while I like working with OS X, one of its chief advantages to me is the seamless way it works. In short, working with a hacked version of OS X on nonstandard hardware takes away most of the operating system’s advantages.

In that light, it’s clear that Microsoft has a far more challenging job in building operating systems, because it has to make Windows work acceptably well with a wide range of computers, processors and accessories. It’s a credit to the Redmond company that Windows 7 works as well as it does on a netbook, and while it hasn’t entirely eliminated Vista’s annoyances (such as confirmation dialogs and an overly-aggressive automatic update system that sometimes reboots the computer, unpredictably, while I’m in the middle of doing something), it goes a long way towards making Windows more “transparent.” For the most part, it just works, and doesn’t get in the way, while I concentrate on my work.

Adding Google’s Chrome browser to Windows 7 complete the picture for the netbook user. That’s because Chrome is lightweight and fast, rendering pages (especially JavaScript-heavy ones, like Gmail) especially quickly. And because of the compact way it presents the address bar, tabs and toolbar — especially if you’re using the “Minimalist” theme — more of the screen is available to display web pages — no small consideration when you’re working with a tiny 9- or 10-inch LCD.

Windows 7 may not be as speedy as a stripped-down Linux distro, but on the other hand it is familiar, runs well enough, and appears to support every component on the MSI Wind without trouble. By deep-sixing Internet Explorer and replacing it with Chrome, it becomes the best netbook option I know of.

Photo (of an MSI Wind netbook running Windows 7 and Chrome) by Dylan Tweney/Wired.com

Nov 23

Oops! Microsoft Ran Out Of Vista Product Keys

Posted in: Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on September 07, 2006 by CyberNet.

Vista Logo We all knew this day would come, didn’t we? Maybe it’s not as serious as you may think but it is funny nonetheless. Microsoft’s Connect users have been able to request new product keys for each release that they have downloaded. However, it looks like Microsoft hit a little bump today when members tried to get new keys:

We are currently out of additional keys for package “5342 and Up Ultimate”. We will have more keys available for download within 72 hours. Please do NOT send mail to MCHelp or LHBeta regarding this issue.”

I don’t see what the big deal is because they should just be able to use their old keys like the rest of us? The Beta 2 key that you received can also be activated on up to 10 computers so it isn’t like they need more keys…unless you are a business that likes to run a pre-released operating system.

I’m sure this issue is part of the reason that Microsoft won’t let the public get new keys for Vista RC1. From what I have seen in the past there are plenty of hackers that could probably help Microsoft get some more keys.

News Source: APC

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Nov 22

Microsoft’s Windows Most Secure OS? What?

Posted in: Apple, Linux, Mac, Microsoft, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on March 22, 2007 by CyberNet.

Internetsecurity According to Symantec’s annual Internet Security Report, Windows is not only doing well in terms of security, it’s actually doing better than competitors when it comes to the most widely-used operating systems. The information for this report was gathered during the last six months of 2006, and some of the information they were looking at included how many vulnerabilities appeared, and how long on average it took for a patch to be released.

Microsoft:

39 vulnerabilities discovered
12 were high priority or severe
On average, Microsoft took 21 days to fix them

Red Hat Linux

208 vulnerabilities discovered
2 considered high priority or severe, 130 were considered medium severity
On average, it took 58 days to fix them

Apple

43 vulnerabilities discovered in Mac OS X
1 considered high priority or severe
On average, it took 66 days to fix them

Microsoft is definitely on top of their game when it comes to issuing patches compared to the others, however they also had the most high priority patches to deal with. At the same time, they also had the best turn around for fixing them. Apple had the lowest number of high priority vulnerabilities, but they took the longest out of the three, on average to fix.

Because Microsoft has been a target for years, they’ve had to be aggressive with fixing these issues. Charles King, an analyst with Pund-IT when speaking to Internetnews.com explains that “there have been complaints in the past about Apple’s lack of response to security issues. But as Mac and Linux gain market share, they will have to respond much quicker.”

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Nov 21

Windows drivers for Apple’s Magic Mouse conjured from the ether

Posted in: Apple, hack, mouse, Today's Chili, Windows

Hey Windows users: what would you risk for a mouse of such mystical persuasions that it has the word “magic” right in the product name? How about $69 for the mouse followed by a few sleepless nights after installing a .exe found in the murky shallows of the internet? That’s what it’ll take to install some hacked drivers, said to enable Apple’s Magic Mouse gestures, on your Windows rig. The drivers were extracted from the latest Bluetooth update targeting Mac owners running Windows under Boot Camp, but now there’s nothing stopping you from trying them too. Let us know how this dark elixir works out in the comments below.

Windows drivers for Apple’s Magic Mouse conjured from the ether originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gizmodo | source Uneasy Silence, 32-bit download, 64-bit download | Email this | Comments

Nov 21

Microsoft roadmap pegs Windows 8 release for 2012, or just after the world’s end

Posted in: Microsoft, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, roadmap, rumor, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 8, Windows8

It’s somewhat hard to believe that we’re already talking about Windows 8 given that Windows 7 just hit the shelves two months ago, but you know the engineers at Microsoft are already planning ahead. According to a roadmap constructed over at Microsoft Kitchen — based around whispers heard through the grapevine on the eventual release of the next Windows Server — the next iteration of Windows is tentatively pegged for release in the year 2012. Of course, a three-year window between Windows 7 and the next version is totally believable, but we wouldn’t go planning your end of the world party with the assumption that a new OS will be the main attraction. Or you could, but then you might be disappointed, which would be a sucky way to go out.

Microsoft roadmap pegs Windows 8 release for 2012, or just after the world’s end originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista | source Microsoft Kitchen | Email this | Comments

Nov 19

A History Of Windows Presented By Microsoft

Posted in: Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on July 25, 2006 by CyberNet.

A History Of Windows Presented By Microsoft Microsoft Windows has been around for two-decades and has helped technology evolve. Windows 1.0 was released in 1985 and brought a wide range of features no one had ever expected a computer to bring. Things like moving a mouse around the screen and being able to simply click to start an application.

Technology has come a long way and has even taken it a step further as more ways to input data into a computer are found. Things like Tablet PC’s or voice recognition are becoming an accurate way to take the pain out of typing. Looking back on what we had 20 years ago makes you wonder where we will be 20 years from now.

Even though Microsoft has plans for Windows years and years in advance it will still be awhile before we know what to expect decades from now. However, while we sit and ponder about the future we can take a look at the past with Microsoft’s History of Windows site. It will walk you through all of the different versions of Windows that have been released over the years and will certainly make you appreciate what we have now. Where would the World be without Minesweeper and Solitaire?

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Nov 19

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 rolling out November 24th

Posted in: Today's Chili, update, upgrade, Windows

The name may not exactly suggest any groundbreaking changes, but we’re guessing that most Windows Home Server users with Windows 7 computers will want to upgrade to Power Pack 3 as soon as they can, which we now finally know will be on November 24th. As we’d heard previously, the big news with this update is that it brings Windows Home Server up to speed with its desktop OS counterpart, including support for full backup and restore of Windows 7 computers, Windows 7 Libraries integration, “better support” for netbooks and, of course, a slew of enhancements for Windows Media Center. Best of all, the update is completely free, and should show up via Windows Update as soon as it’s available.

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 rolling out November 24th originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Windows Home Server Blog | Email this | Comments

Nov 17

CyberNotes: Vista Program Compatibility Mode

Posted in: CyberNotes, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows Vista

This article was written on February 14, 2008 by CyberNet.

Tutorial Thursday

One of the biggest complaints that people have with Vista is that many of their applications don’t work like they do in XP. Your program compatibility woes can possibly be solved in just a few clicks by utilizing the built-in “Compatibility Mode” option. What some people don’t realize is that the Compatibility Mode can also serve other purposes.

Today we’re going to show you how to use and configure the Vista Compatibility Mode. It’s actually rather easy, and there are two different ways that it can be done: with a wizard or through the properties window. Before we get into how you’ll go about doing this lets take a look at where it would be helpful.

–Reasons to Use Compatibility Mode–

I think it’s fair to say that most people only look at the Compatibility Mode as a way to fix applications that have issues running, but I’ve found several situations where it has come in handy:

If you plan on playing a game you should check the boxes to disable visual themes and disable desktop composition. Disabling the visual themes will remove any of the fancy buttons and borders around the windows, and disabling the desktop composition will turn off things like the Aero transparency. Having both of these things disabled while running a game will definitely help out on performance.
It’s kind of a hit or miss when getting older applications to run by selecting the last known operating system that it was compatible with. The available options are Windows 95, Windows 98/Me, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP SP2, or Windows 2003 SP1. Don’t expect this feature to work miracles.
User Account Control (UAC) was added to Vista to help with security issues, but a side effect was a lot of broken applications. There’s a compatibility setting available to force applications to run as an administrator each time the program is started (you’ll then receive a UAC prompt when starting the app). To enable this option check the run this program as an administrator box.

The nice thing about all of these settings is that once you close the application everything will return to normal. So if you have Aero disabled when running a game it will automatically be re-enabled once you exit out of it. Pretty cool, huh?

–Compatibility Mode Wizard–

To use the wizard click on the Start button, then Control Panel, then Programs, and finally Use an older program with this version of Windows:

vista use older program

The wizard is nice because it explains what the various options does, which is something that most Windows users will need. Here are screenshots from the different settings that you can configure by using the wizard:

(Click to Enlarge)

In the first screenshot you can see that the wizard goes and finds every executable file on your computer. The Settings column offers a central place to see all of the applications you’ve already configured compatibility options for.

–Properties Window–

You can access the Compatibility Mode options even faster by right-clicking on an executable file (or on a shortcut) and selecting the Properties option. Then just switch over to the Compatibility tab and adjust whatever settings you would like:

vista compatibility properties

–Overview–

The Vista Compatibility Mode is often mentioned only when users are having troubles getting applications to run, but I actually use it the most to disable the special visual effects when running games or processor-intensive applications. Let us know in the comments below what you use(d) the Compatibility Mode for!

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Hasta La Gadget!