If you suspect that some one is eying on your instant messaging conversations then you must try out some encryption software which will encrypt your conversations. BitDefender chat encryption is one such very useful program which keeps your instant messages safe. BitDefender Chat Encryption will encrypt your instant messages so that they are safe.

BitDefender chat encryption will be very helpful when you have got some confidential talk over instant messaging. It will keep you safe from others through a simple and automatic encryption process. BitDefender delivers IM privacy in a snap which secures all your communications via Yahoo Messenger 8 and Windows Live Messenger 8.5. Inorder to protect yourselves with BitDefender chat encryption, you should ensure that the person with whom you are talking to on the other side has also installed BitDefender chat encryption on their computer.

Main Features of BitDefender chat encryption

• Privacy in a snap: The encryption procedure begins automatically with this feature when a conversation is initiated. It doesn’t require any password.
• No Message hijacking: This allows you and your partner to access the IM conversations on a top level encryption.

As BitDefender chat encryption is FREE, you can invite your friends to use it. After they install the product your conversations are encrypted and safe. BitDefender chat encryption works with Yahoo! Messenger v8 or higher and Windows Live Messenger v8.5 or higher on Windows XP SP2(32 bit) and Windows Vista (32 bit). So if you are looking to protect instant messages then try out BitDefender chat encryption.

Download BitDefender chat encryption here

PR: wait... I: wait... L: wait... LD: wait... I: wait... wait... Rank: wait... Traffic: wait... Price: wait... C: wait...

Read More >>>>

The KOffice team might be very happy after announcing the latest version 2.0.0 of KOffice as they have spent more than 3 years to port KOffice to Qt 4 and KDE 4 libraries and in some cases it’s a total rewrite of the KOffice applications.

For those of you who do not know much about KOffice; It is an integrated office suite built on the KDE platform which utilizes free and open standards like OpenDocument for its document formats, component communication and component embedding. The KOffice team has reworked the framework into an agile and flexible codebase as they want to decrease the duplication of functionality and want to develop and maintain the new features.

The KOffice team recommends KOffice 2.0.0 to early adopters, developers and testers and not for normal users as it is using the new engine. More features will be introduced in the further releases of KOffice which would be worth waiting as they could be more efficient and better integrated.

Applications included in KOffice 2.0.0

• KWord - Word processor
• KSpread - Spreadsheet manager
• KPresenter - Presentations creator
• KPlato - Project management tool
• Karbon - Vector graphics editor
• Krita - Raster graphics editor

The KChart application is available throughout the whole KOffice Suite as a shape plug-in. “Flake” is one of the major new features in KOffice. Which is simple geometric figure or a very complex chart. Flake shape is available in all of KOffice 2.0.0 components. To work best with wider screen formats, KOffice 2.0.0 has redesigned with a new GUI layout. KOffice has also got native support for OASIS OpenDocument Format(ODF). To manage your workflow you can dock and undock the individual toolbox. With every launch of the program users don’t have to reconfigure the layout and settings as KOffice remembers them. KOffice is available on Linux with KDE or GNOME, Windows and Macintosh.

Download KOffice 2.0.0

Read More >>>>

Over the past few years, security suites have managed to pick up a bad reputation for being bloated and slowing down the PCs on which they are installed. They are, in fact, sometimes regarded as necessary evils—users install them, but only begrudgingly. They aren’t entirely wrong to feel this way, since it’s true that the burdens imposed by such software on CPU utilization, hard disk space usage and even overall system boot time have ballooned out of proportion. When this happens, some users ditch the suites and instead combine separate antivirus, antispyware and firewall applications (often free ones), but plenty of them just do without any sort of protection at all.

Symantec has identified unnecessary bloat as the main area in which the 2009 editions of its products can be improved, and so we have Norton 360 version 3.0, which makes the bold claims of being able to be installed in less than one minute, using less than 10 MB of RAM at idle, and occupying less than 100 MB of disk space (without the definition files that accumulate over time). Those claims, and a couple of interesting new concepts for handling security altogether, are what make this suite interesting.

Read full article

Read More >>>>

 

Google Reader, the online feed aggregator provided by the Mountain View search engine giant, has made its way to Google Desktop, the software that works with Mac OS X, Linux and Windows and makes searching the user’s computer as easy as performing a web search. The Reader Google Desktop gadget has been developed by software expert James Yum as part of his “20% time” (one day per week, Google allows software developers to work on any ideas they might have about improving the company’s online services).
“Wherever there are gadgets, RSS feed readers are never lacking, and Google Desktop gadgets are no exception. Until now, there hasn't been a good way to combine all your feeds into a single gadget. With the new Google Reader gadget, you can now track your feeds and Google Reader subscriptions directly from your desktop. The Google Reader gadget is designed to be familiar for existing Reader users, yet compact like our other Desktop gadgets," explains Google Desktop expert, James Yum.

In order to benefit from the gadget’s functionality, here is what you must do:
- First of all, you need to install Google Desktop; if you do not have it, a download location is provided below.
- You need to download and install the Reader Google Desktop gadget (download location provided below).
- Sign into your Google account and select a subscription; the Reader gadget will automatically be updated with new posts.
- Click an item to open a larger view which allows you to see a preview of that item and perform certain tasks(start, share, email).
- Keep in mind that the Reader Google Desktop gadget does not fully render full HTML feeds. According to James Yum this is “due to a technical limitation of Google Desktop gadgets.” But if you click on an item title, your browser will fire up and you will be directed to the original web page where the item is displayed.
James Yum again: “The Google Reader gadget runs with the latest Linux and Windows releases of Google Desktop gadgets and is open sourced under the Apache 2.0 license. We hope this gadget is a fun and useful way to access your Google Reader subscriptions. Please give it a try and tell us what you think.”
If you would like to get the Reader Google Desktop gadget, a download location is available here.
If you would like to get Google Desktop, a download location is available here.
In related news, Google Reader has enhanced its social networking offering by allowing the user to set up custom feed bundles and share them with friends (details here).

 

From: http://www.findmysoft.com/news/Google-Reader-Gadget-for-Google-Desktop/

Read More >>>>

One big ease-of-use advantage Linux distributions have over Windows is the process of installing and updating applications - thanks to repositories and software like Debian's apt-get. Running Windows doesn't mean that you can't easily maintain your app installs. With a few helpful (and free) downloaders you can add that missing functionliaty to your system, too!
Here are five that I find particularly helpful - share your favorites in the comments!

Anti-Malware Toolkit (pictured above) - If you download malware fighting apps frequently, you need AMT. Nearly 40 programs are supported, including must-haves like MalwareBytes, CCleaner, Autoruns, Unlocker, Rootkit Revealer, and more. AMT also supports command line arguments for easy batch scripting and scheduling.

FileHippo Update Checker - FileHippo is one of the best places out there to download software. The site is well organized, and they do a good job of only listing quality apps. Their update checker makes it easy to keep your core free applications up to date. It's also available as a portable application.

GetIt - Wondering why AppSnap, AppUpdater, and Win-Get aren't listed? It's because GetIt rolls all three into a single interface, is able to download over 400 applications, and integrates nicely with FARR. Don't worry about installing the supporting cast ahead of time, GetIt will grab them for you on the first launch. GetIt is also portable now, though you'll need to install the regular version first then create the portable file yourself.

Chrome Nightly Updater - If you prefer to rock a cutting-edge (and unstable) browser, nightly builds are the way to go. CNU makes short work of keeping your Chromium install hot-off-the-compiler fresh.

Ketarin - Are you the hands-on type? Ketarin is the downloader for you - think of it as a kicked-up frontend for wget. Since developers can frequently change folders and filenames (hello, version strings!) Ketarin can be a bit of work to maintain. It's not all DIY, though, as Ketarin also supports FileHippo program IDs - which never change.

From: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/05/27/5-great-program-downloaders-and-updaters-for-windows/

Read More >>>>

Includes:
Expression Web With SP1
Groove 2007 With SP1
OneNote 2007 With SP1
Professional Plus 2007 Suite With SP2 (Suite) (12.0.6416.1000) - PRODUCT SUITE WITH SP2
Project Professional 2007 With SP1
Project Standard 2007 With SP1
SharePoint Designer 2007 With SP1
Ultimate 2007 Suite With SP2 (Suite) (12.0.6416.1000) - PRODUCT SUITE WITH SP2
Visio Professional 2007 With SP1
Visio Standard 2007 With SP1

Check out here for More details on Download

Read More >>>>

If you frequently get emails written in a foreign language in your Microsoft Outlook email client software or  if you have to translate Office Word documents, here is a nice, freeware add-on which is going to be quite useful to you. As a matter of fact, it helps you translate foreign emails or documents in a couple of clicks.

Microsoft has recently released a nice add-on which, once installed, will add “Microsoft Translator through the Research task pane for Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Office 2007.” The translating add-on works with the following  Office programs:

• Microsoft Office Word 2003 and 2007
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 and 2007
• Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 and 2007
• Microsoft Office Excel 2003 and 2007
• Microsoft Office Publisher 2003 and 2007
• Microsoft Office Visio 2003 and 2007
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and 2007

Thanks to Microsoft Translator you will be able to translate single words, sentences or full text by using the advanced Live Search translation service located in the contextual menu or in the Research task pane of Office. If you want to download this helpful add-on, visit Microsoft’s official webpage.

Read More >>>>

We can’t deny the fact that most of the Linux OS in the market are has a very user unfriendly interface, possibly because most of us grew up with Windows and got accustomed with the layout. Ubuntu 9.04 on the other hand is trying to change this, among all the Linux OS, Ubuntu has a simple interface and it is easy to learn.

Ubuntu is a community developed, Linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. It contains all the applications you need - a web browser, presentation, document and spreadsheet software, instant messaging and much more.

For those newly converted Linux users, you should download Vistar7 Transformation Pack, it makes Kubuntu 9.04 looks and in some areas works like Windows 7. Screenshot below, download the free Vistar7 Transformation Pack for Ubuntu 9.04.

Read More >>>>

If you couldn’t find your Windows product keys, this little program WinGuggle helps you in recovering your product keys from the windows installation. WinGuggle can recover and Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 product keys along with Office 2007 product key.

WinGuggle is self executable file, download the application, unzip it and launch the application. It will display the product keys of the windows installation and Office. It also allows you to change OEM logo and other information if you would prefer that.

WinGuggle is a freeware works with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 and requires .NET framework for Windows XP.

Read More >>>>

Windows 7 has a neat jumplist feature that allows programs to create links to application-specific tasks from the right click menu that appears when you click on the minimized window button in the taskbar.

Some native Windows applications utilize this feature very well. Internet Explorer 8 on Windows 7 puts your most visited sites in the jumplist as you use it more and more. In the screenshot below, you can see IE 8’s jumplist that has options to specific tasks like InPrivate, New tab etc:

However, Firefox’s current version doesn’t utilize jumplists in a big way. The following screenshot will illustrate the same. It doesn’t do much.

Firefox doesn't take advantage of Windows 7's Jumplist features

However, Winfox aims to change all that. Winfox tells Firefox to leverage the Jumplist feature in Windows 7 to do more things.

Winfox pins frequently visited sites to the Firefox jumplist. Thumbnails of open windows are available from the taskbar button as well.

Firefox Jumplist, after Winfox was installed

Get Winfox from here. Winfox works with Firefox 3 and above.

Read More >>>>

If Wolfram Alpha was not enough to keep the Google team worried, Collecta thought to give another twist to the already complicated future of Google Search Engine.  Not only this, even specialized search companies like Jenni (A movie and tv shows search engine) have been taking some small pies of business away from Google. Anyways, the blog is about a new wonder child whose still in the line to rock the world! Its name is Collecta!

Collecta is a one of the first of its kind. Its a Real Time Search Engine. It can give you everything about a certain keyword as and when it happens.  So if you want to know latest updates about Maria Sharapova or about Swine Flu, you can only just type it into Collecta! Baaaang! The result is a live stream of results as and when they are uploaded to the world wide web. No matter if its a twitter update, any new comment with the your desired keyword, any news story or a picture posted at Flickr, Collecta will bring them all for you at one place. So now you don’t have to refresh the Google News page repeatedly to check the new updates on a fast developing story or glued your eyes to Twitter to check it our for latest information, all your need is just Collecta as it will Collect Each and Everything for you as its name suggests.

Below is the screen shot of the Collecta when i gave it a try. Collecta has given two keywords i.e Obama and Swineflu to test them on their Collecta Real Time Search Engine. The results were impressive. I got a lot of twitter updates and few link to other stories about Obama. Even few wordpress blog posts also appeared in the list. Another website tested the Collecta engine for its updation speed and they found it pretty satisfactory. In any case, its currently just looking for two keywords and hence we can expect such speed, the real test will come when million of people will be searching for wide variety of terms at the same time.

So lets keep our fingers crossed and lets hope to be the first to update this post when Collecta is available for our Collective usage. Gerry Campbell and his team deserves a loud applause.  Click here to visit the Collecta site

Read More >>>>

Windows 7 is currently only a beta version, but it’s better than the latest version of Windows Vista and it comes with a lot of new features. Unfortunately, some of them aren’t so easy to figure out, so we created a list of the most important tips and tricks and a step-by-step guide.

1. PC Safeguard
   

   I rarely let anyone use my PC because I’m afraid he will mess it up, but it seems Microsoft has been thinking at me and came with a solution. The PC Safeguard doesn’t let anyone mess your PC settings, because after the user logs off, the configurations are reset back to normal. Of course it will not restore the configurations changed by you, but only the ones done by other users you define.

   To use PC Safeguard, go to Control Panel -> User Accounts and create a new account, then select “Set Up Pc Safeguard” and switch it on. Then you can stay relaxed when others use your computer, because you won’t find anything changed, including configurations, downloaded software, installed programs.

2. Screen Calibration
   

   Fortunately, Windows 7 comes with a display calibration wizard that lets you set up the screen brightness properly, so you won’t have any problems viewing photos or text. The problem was that on one PC a photo could look sharp and bright and on another it looks awful. Now the problem can be fixed by pressing the Win key and then typing “DCCW”.

3. AppLocker
   

   If you are usually sharing your computer with someone else, then you might want to restrict their access to your applications, files or documents. Using the AppLocker tool, you have a few options to do this by blocking other users to access Executables, Windows Installers, Scripts, a specific publisher or path. You can simply do this by pressing the Windows key then typing Gpedit.msc. Then go to Computer Navigation -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Application Control Policies -> AppLocker. Right click on one of the options ( Executables, Installers, or Script ) and create a new rule. That should save you from a lot of headaches.

4. Burn Images
   

   We all had trouble with image burning in Windows, because it couldn’t do it itself, a standalone software being needed. With Windows 7 this will not be a problem anymore. All you have to do is double-click the ISO image and burn it on the CD or DVD that’s inserted in the drive.

5. Display Empty Removable Drives
   

   Windows 7 will not show empty drives by default, so if you connect an empty drive to your PC, don’t worry, just go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View and uncheck “Hide empty drives in the computer folder”. This doesn’t seem like a good idea and it should not be default setting, because it will be hard for inexperienced users to figure it out. I bet a lot of users will return their newly bought drive thinking it’s broken.

6. Dock The Current Windows To The Left Side Of The Screen
   

   This new feature seems useful because sometimes it’s disturbing that windows seems to float like crazy on the screen and it’s hard to attach them to one side of it. Now this can easily be done using a keyboard shortcut. Press the Windows key + Left key to dock it to the left side of the screen.

7. Dock The Current Windows To The Right Side Of The Screen

   Press the Windows key + Right key to dock it to the right side of the screen.

8. Display Or Hide The Explorer Preview Panel
   

   Press ALT + P to hide it then once again to display it.

9. Display Gadgets On Top Of Other Windows
   

   Press ALT + G

10. Background Photo Slideshow
    

    If you are like me, lazy and bored, then you will want to change the background from time to time, wasting a lot of time. Now you don’t have to do this anymore, because you can set up a slideshow. Right click on the desktop then go to Personalize -> Desktop Background and hold the CTRL key while choosing the images. Then you can choose the time intervals between images and opt to display them randomly or in a row.

11. Make The Taskbar Smaller
    

    If you feel like the taskbar is using too much of your screen space, you can choose to make the icons smaller. To do this, right-click on the Start button, then go to Properties -> Taskbar and set it to “Use small icons”

12. Combine Taskbar Icons
    

    When you have more windows or applications opened, the taskbar’s space might not be enough for them all, so you need to combine them, just like you would in Windows XP or Vista. To do this, right-click the Start button, then go to Properties -> Taskbar and check “Combine when taskbar is full”.

13. Multi-threaded File Copy
    

    If you are a more advanced user, you’ve heard already about Robocopy. Now it’s included in Windows 7 and lets you perform multi-threaded copies from the command line. You can choose the number of threads like this “/MT[:n], which can be from 1 to 128.

14. Maximize Or Restore The Foreground Window
    

    Press Windows Key + Up Key.

15. Minimize The Active Window
    

    Press Windows Key + Down Key

16. Activate The Quick Launch Toolbar
    

    The Quick Launch Toolbar in Windows XP in Vista seems a very good idea that you might miss when using Windows 7. Fortunately though, you can get it back in a quick few steps. Right click the taskbar, go to Toolbar -> New Toolbar and type “%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch” into the folder box, then click Select Folder. To make it look like it would in Windows Vista, right click the taskbar, uncheck “Lock the Taskbar”, then right click the divider and uncheck “Show Title” and “Show Text”. Then right click the taskbar and check “Show Small Icons” and you should be done.

17. Preview Photos In Windows Explorer
    

    While in Windows Explorer, Press ALT + P and a preview should appear on the right.

18. Desktop Magnifier
    

    Press the Windows Key and the Plus Key to zoom in or Windows Key and the Minus Key to zoom out. You can zoom anywhere on the desktop and you can even configure your magnifier. You can choose to invert colors, follow the mouse pointer, follow the keyboard focus, or the text insertion point.

19. Minimize Everything Except The Current Window
    

    Press the Windows Key + Home Key.

20. TroubleShoot Power Management
    

    Windows 7 can tell you how much power your system uses or provide detailed information about the power usage and issues caused by each application and device. This way you can optimize the way your battery is used, making It last longer. Press the Windows Key and type “POWERCFG –ENERGY –OUTPUT <path\filename>”, and it will create a file called energy-report.html in the folder specified by you, after observing your PC for 60 seconds.

21. Web Searches From Your Desktop
    

    Windows 7 lets you search for online resources, by adding a connector that be downloaded for free. For instance, go to http://www.bizzntech.com/flickrsearch and download the Flickr connector. After that, you should see the Flickr Search in your searches folder and you will be able to do it directly from your desktop, without needing to visit their website.

22. Add Videos To Your Start Menu
    

    If you were looking for a faster way to access your videos, then Windows 7 has the right answer for you. Right click the Start button, then go to Properties -> Start Menu -> Customize and set the Videos to “Display as a link” and you’re done, you will now find them in the Start Menu.

23. Shift The Window From One Monitor To Another
    

    If you are using two or more monitors, then you might want to move the Windows from one to another. There is a very simple way to do it. All you have to do is press the Windows Key + Shift Key + Left or Right Key, depending on what monitor you want to move it to.

24. Custom Power Button
    

    There is an option to replace the “Shut Down” button with another action, if you rarely shut down the computer, but you more often restart it or put it on sleep. Right click the Start Button, go to Properties and choose the ‘Power Boot Action” to do whatever you want, from the given options.

25. Easily Add A New Font
    

    Adding a new font it’s now easier than ever. Just download the font you want, double click it and you should see the install button.

26. Stretch The Window Vertically
    

    You can stretch the active window vertically to the maximum display height by pressing the Windows + Shift + Up Keys. Press Windows + Down Keys if you want to restore it.

27. Open Windows Explorer
    

    Press The Windows + E Keys to open a new instance of Windows Explorer.

28. Create A New Instance Of The First Icon In The Taskbar
    

    Press Windows + 1 Keys to open a new instance of the first icon in the taskbar. This could prove really useful in some circumstances.

29. Windows Action Center
    

    Windows Action Center offers you important information about your PC, like the Antivirus Status, updates, troubleshooting and provides a backup scheduling feature. To access it, go to Control Panel -> System And Security -> Action Center.

30. Windows Troubleshooting Platform
    

    This platform can help you solve a lot of issues you may encounter, like the internet connection, hardware devices, poor system performance and more. You can choose what to troubleshoot and it will come with some possible explanations for the problem that might really help you. There are a lot of options, guidance and information available there, so give it a try by typing “troubleshoot” or “fix” after pressing the Windows Key.

31. Turn Off System Notifications
    

    System notifications are usually disturbing and aren’t always useful, so you might want to turn some of them off and. This can be done in Windows 7 by double clicking the Notification Area Icons in Control panel. There you can change notifications and icons for the Action Center, Network, Volume, Windows Explorer, Media Center Tray Applet, Windows Update Automatic Updates.

32. Turn Off Security Messages
    

    To turn off security messages you have to go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Action Center -> Change Action Center Settings and you can turn off the following notifications: Windows Update, Internet Security Settings, Network Firewall, Spyware and related protection, User Account Control, Virus Protection, Windows Backup, Windows Troubleshooting, Check for updates.

33. Cycle Through The Open Programs Via The Taskbar’s Peek Menu
    

    This works just like Alt + Tab, but opens the menu just above the sidebar, doesn’t seem very useful. Give it a try by pressing The Windows Key + T.

34. Run A Program As An Administrator
    

    You can easily run a program as an administrator by pressing Ctrl + Shift while opening it.

35. Same Program Windows Switching
    

    If you have more instances of a program running, simply hold Ctrl while clicking on its icon and it will cycle through all the instances.

36. Auto Arrange Desktop Icons
    

    You can now forget about the Right Click -> Auto arrange. All you have to do is hold F5 pressed for a bit and the icons will auto arrange.

37. Encrypt Removable USB Drives
    

    Encrypting an USB drive has never been easier. Now you can right click on the removable drive and then on the “Turn on Bitlocker”.

38. Turn Off Smart Window Arrangement
    

    If you don’t like Windows 7’s new features that arrange your windows intelligently, there’s an easy way to turn it off. Press the Windows Key, type “regedit”, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and set WindowArrangementActive to 0. After you reboot your system the smart arrangements will be turned off.

39. Create A System Repair Disc
    

    Windows 7 features a tool that lets you create a bootable System Repair Disc that includes some system tools and the command prompt. To create it, press the Windows Key and type “system repair disc”.

40. Hard-Link Migration Store
    

    The Hard-Link Migration store is only available for new computers and can migrate files, settings, and user accounts. The new Hard-Link Migration Store uses more less disk spaces and takes less time.

41. Turn Off ‘Send Feedback’
    

    The current Beta version of Windows 7 is all about feedback from its testers, but if you feel disturbed by it, there is a way to turn it off. Press the Windows Key and type ‘regedit’, then go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and set FeedbackToolEnabled to 0. After you restart the computer, it shouldn’t be there anymore. Also, if you want to turn it on again, set the FeedbackToolEnabled to 3.

42. Improved Calculator
    

    Windows 7 features an improved calculator that can do unit conversion, date calculation, gas mileage, lease, and mortgage. Also you can choose between Standard, Scientific, Programmer, and Statistic calculator.

43. Open A Folder In A New Process
    

    Windows 7 opens all folders in the same process in order to save resources, but this means if one folder crashes, they all crash. So if you feel like that’s a risk you don’t have to take, then you have to open them all in their own processes. To do this, hold down Shift, right-click the drive and “Open in New Process”. Now you will be safe.

44. Problem Step Recorder
    

    The Problem Step Recorder is a great tool that can be used in more circumstances. You can turn it on by pressing the Windows Key, then typing “PSR.exe” and click Record. Now it will record all your moves and save them as a HTML document that you can view or write descriptions to it. This can help you with troubleshooting or when writing a guidance or tutorial.

45. Free Codecs Pack
    

    Unfortunately, Windows Media Player still isn’t able to play many audio and video files, so you will still need some codecs. But with the free codecs pack you can download here you shouldn’t have any problems.

46. Start Windows Explorer From My Computer
    

    Windows Explorer opens in the Libraries directory by default. Most of us are used to see the My Computer page instead. To change it to My Computer, press the Windows Key, then type “explorer”, select Properties and in the Shortcut tab type “%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}”. Now you have to right-click the Explorer icon in the Taskbar and hit “Unpin this program from the taskbar” and then drag it back from the Start Menu.

47. Clear The Desktop
    

    If there are too many windows on the desktop, you can clear it by shaking a window from left to right and all others will minimize. To restore the other windows you have to shake the active one again.

48. Use Gadgets With UAC Turned Off
    

    Maybe you noticed that once you turn off UAC you can’t use the gadgets anymore, as a security measure. But if you want to risk using them, there a simple way to do it, even with UAC turned off. Press the Windows Key, type ‘regedit’, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Sidebar\Settings and create a DWORD value named AllowElevatedProcess and set its value to 1. Now you should be able to use your gadgets. If not, then reboot your PC and you should be done.

49. Fix The Media Player & Media Center MP3 Bug
    

    Both Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center come with a bug that can damage your MP3s by filling missing metadata automatically on imported MP3 files. This can cut a few seconds from the beginning of the tracks and can prove really disturbing. This problem was fixed by Microsoft using the fix located here.

50. Search Everything In Your Computer
    

    Windows 7 offers the possibility to search all file types, including unknown ones and this could help you in some cases. Though it is not recommended, because it’s much slower than normal search, you can give it a try by doing the following: Launch Windows Explorer, go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View and check “Try to search the content of unknown file types”. If you don’t need it anymore, don’t forget to clear it for an increase in speed.

51. Mouse Gestures
    

    Windows 7 has not only brought gestures for those who use touchscreen devices, but for mouse users too. So, instead of right-clicking a Taskbar icon to access the jump list, you can hold left-click and drag upwards to smoothly call it up. In addition, clicking and dragging down the address bar in Internet Explorer will open the browsing history. There might be more gestures yet not discovered.

52. Configure Your Music Favorites
    

    If you’ve already fixed the Windows Media Center, now you might think of ways to improve your experience with it. The Media Center creates a list of favorite songs based on how often you play them, your ratings and date you’ve added them. If you aren’t comfortable with the way they thought it out, change the way it sorts your favorites by going to Tasks -> Settings -> Music -> Favorite Music.

53. Turn Off Recent Search Queries Display
    

    Windows 7 holds and displays the recent search queries by default. This can often prove to be irritating. No need to stress though because it can be disabled. Press the Windows Key, type gpedit.msc, then go to User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Explorer and double click on “Turn off display of recent search entries”.

54. Advanced Disk Defragmentation
    

    Fortunately, Windows 7 offers much better defragmentation than Vista and also lets you configure it a bit from the command line. To do it, press the Windows Key and then type CMD. You can defragment your hard disk from the command line by typing “defrag” and you have the following options: /r will defrag multiple drives simultaneously, -a performs a defrag analysis, -v prints the report, -r treats files with at least 64 Mb of fragments like are not fragmented, -w will defrag everything. An example is “defrag C: -v -w” to defrag the whole drive C.

55. Make Internet Explorer 8 Load Faster
    

    If you want Internet Explorer 8 to load faster, you need to disable the add-ons that slow it down, so go to Tools -> Manage Add-ons and check the load time for each one. You can choose for yourself the ones you can live without and ones that would increase the load speed.

56. Media Center Automatic Download
    

    Windows Media Center 12 allows you to schedule data downloads, so it can be done without disturbing you. To do it, go to Tasks -> Settings -> General -> Automatic Download Options and you can configure it to start and stop the download whenever you want.

57. Remove The Sidebar
    

    Windows 7 doesn’t seem to feature the sidebar anymore, but it still exists and runs in the background, being launched automatically at startup. So if you want to get rid of it, there are two ways. The easier one is to press the Windows Key, type MSCONFIG.EXE, click the Startup tab and clear the Sidebar box. The hard way is to press the Windows key, type “regedit”, find and delete the registry key at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. This can save you some RAM consumed with no use.

58. Volume Tweaking
    

    Don’t you like that Windows 7 automatically reduces the volume when it detects PC calls? You can turn off this feature by right-clicking the speaker icon in the taskbar, go to Sounds -> Communications and get rid of it.

59. Run A Program As Another User
    

    Windows 7 comes with the possibility to run a program both as an administrator or another user, by right clicking on the executable or shortcut while holding down the Shift key. Then you have to select “Run as another user”.

60. Use Virtual Hard Disk Files
    

    You can now create and manage virtual hard disks files in Windows 7 as if they were real disks. This can allow you to use a live Windows installation on the virtual disk without the need to boot the virtual Computer. To create a virtual disk you have to press the Windows Key, right-click on Computer, then go to Manage -> Disk Management -> Action -> Create VHD. There you can specify the location and size of your virtual hard disk file.

    To attach the virtual disk file, press the Windows Key, right-click Computer, then go to Manage -> Disk Management -> Action -> Attach VHD and you have to specify the location and if it’s read only or not.

    To initialize a virtual hard disk, press the Windows Key, right-click on Computer, go to Manage -> Disk Management -> Action -> Attach VHD, specify the location, click Ok, then right click on the virtual disk and click on Initialize Disk. Select the partition style you want to use and then right-click on the unallocated space and click “New Simple Volume” and follow the instructions wizard. Now, a new hard drive appears in Windows Explorer and you can use it as a real partition.

61. Remove The Windows Live Messenger Tab In The Taskbar
    

    To get rid of the Windows Live Messenger Tab and put it back in the system tray, where it belongs, go to C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Messenger, right-click msnmsdgr.exe and set its compatibility mode to Windows Vista.

62. Lock The Screen
    

    There is no Lock Screen button in the Start Menu anymore, so you have to press the Windows Key + L to lock it, now. It seems easier, in case you don’t forget the shortkey.

63. Create A Screen Lock Shortcut
    

    In case you don’t like shortkeys or you keep forgetting them, there’s another option for screen lock. Simply create a new shortcut to C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation and place it whenever you want.

64. Enable Run Command In Start Menu
    

    If you miss the old Run Command button in XP, then there’s an option to get it back in Windows 7. Right-click an open area in Start Menu, go to Properties -> Start Menu -> Customize and check “Run Command. Now you should be done.

65. Improve Desktop Window Manager For Nvidia Graphics
    

    Sometimes the animations for Desktop Window Manager don’t look very well and aren’t smooth enough and this is cause because Desktop Window Manager renders effects with no transparency and blurring, but you can turn off animations for more pleasant graphics. Press the Windows Key, right-click on Computer, go to Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Performance -> Settings and clear “Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing”. Click OK to finnish.

66. Change Default Save Location For Files
    

    Windows 7 is a bit different from Vista, because it saves Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music under the Public folder inside C:\Users. You might not want to save your documents, pictures, videos or music to this location, but create your own locations and you can do it quite easy. Press the Windows Key, Click your username and double-click on the folder you wish to change. Then you will see Includes: 2 library locations. Click on that text, right-click on the folder you wish to set like default and click “Set as default file location”, then click Ok.

67. Make 64bit Windows Media Player Default ( only for X64 users )
    

    Windows comes with the 32bit version of Media Player by default. If you are a x64 user, you can keep the system cleaner by only installing one set of codecs. To do this, press the Windows Key, type “command”, right-click on Command Prompt and hit “Run as administrator”, then type “unregmp2.exe /SwapTo:64″. After that, press the Windows Key, type “regedit”, go to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\wmplayer.exe\, double click on value and change “%ProgramFiles(x86)” to “%ProgramFiles%”. Now you should be using the 64bit Windows Media Player.

68. Open Multiple Instances Of Windows Explorer Via The Taskbar
    

    If you want to run more instances of the Windows Explorer just by hitting the startbar, you can do it by following these steps: Unpin Windows Explorer from the Taskbar, then press the Windows Key, go to Accessories, right-click Windows Explorer, go to Properties and change the shortcut path to %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} ( if you want it to default to My Computer ) or %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5} ( if you want it to default to Libraries ). Now repin Windows Explorer to your Taskbar and you’re done. All that is required for opening more instances of it is just a click of the middle mouse button. If you aren’t pleased with what you’ve done, change the shortcut path back to %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe.

69. Make The System Tray Clock Show The AM / PM Symbols
    

    By default Windows 7 does show the time in 24 hour format, so if you want to get the AM / PM symbols, press the Windows Key, type intl.cpl to open Regional and Language Options, go to Addition Settings -> Time where Long Time is set to HH:mm and change it to HH:mm tt, for example, where tt is the AM or PM symbol ( 21:12 PM ). To change it to the 12 hour format, you need to type it like this hh::mm tt ( 9:12 PM ).

70. Internet Explorer 8 Compatibility Mode
    

    If your websites don’t render correctly, you might need to enable Internet Explorer 8 display them in compatibility view. This issue is because of the updated rendering engine, which causes a lot of trouble. To do it, open Internet Explorer, go to Tools -> Compatibility View Settings and check “Display all websites in compatibility view”, then click Ok.

From: http://www.softsailor.com/news/887-70-useful-windows-7-tips-tricks.html

Read More >>>>

Panda Security has released the free Panda Internet Security 2009 that provides complete internet security solution with protection against cyber-threats like viruses, malware, hackers, spyware, rootkits, online fraud, identify thefts and more. As a part of joint effort for Microsoft’s IT security campaign Protect Your PC, Redmond company has collaborated with Panda Security to offer 3 months of free service for users against malicious threats.
Panda makes Internet surfing risk free by minimizing the possibilities of damage due to the security threats. Panda features IM protection, a personal, spam filter, data backups, heuristic-based pro-active protection, a multi-purpose engine and various identift theft protect tools. Although the free Panda Internet Security is available for three months, it will allow the users an opportunity to try the security solution without any additional cost and protect their system from lethal viruses and malicious programs.

The users can download and install the Panda suite easily. Instructions are provided in order to activate all the services and features in the latest Panda Internet Security 2009. Take a look at the key features offered by Panda Internet Security 2009

• Anti-Malware Engine
• Personal Firewall
• Anti-Phishing Filter
• Anti-Banking Trojan Engine
• Anti-Rootkit Technology
• Anti-Spam Filter
• Parental Control
• Backup & Restore
• Personal Information Filter
• Web Filter
• Advanced Proactive Protection

Download free Panda Internet Security 2009.

Read More >>>>

 

Google Chrome has gotten another speed bump with the latest upgrade. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you probably would have been using the updates through the beta/dev channel already, but now the stable channel has gotten these updates as well. Here are the upgrades from the Google Chrome blog:

Improved New Tab Page: The most requested feature from users was the ability to remove thumbnails from the New Tab page. Now you can finally hide that embarrassing gossip blog from the Most Visited section.
Full Screen Mode: If you’ve ever given a presentation or watched a large video using Google Chrome, you might have wished you could use every last pixel on your screen for the content. Now you can hide the title bar and the rest of the browser window by hitting F11 or selecting the option in the Tools menu.
Form Autofill: Filling out your information in forms over and over again can be tedious. Form autofill helps by showing information you’ve previously entered into the same form fields automatically. If at any point you want to clear out your information, that’s easy to do from the Tools menu.

Increased Stability: Google Chrome is more stable than ever–we have fixed over 300 bugs that caused crashes since launch.
Increased Speed: Making the web faster continues to be our main area of focus. Thanks to a new version of WebKit and an update to our JavaScript engine, V8, interactive web pages will run even faster. We’ve also made sure that JavaScript keeps running fast even when you have lots of tabs open. Try opening a bunch of web applications and then running your favorite benchmark. You can read more about V8 in our JavaScript scalability post on the Chromium blog.

No word on extensions in Chrome 2 so far, but you can get them using some tricks. Chrome 2 is definitely faster, specially with Google services. At the same time, Internet Explorer seems faster for Microsoft’s online services. So, there you go, I summed it up for you. Chrome 2 is a must have upgrade though, just for its super speed.

(This update still hasn’t fixed the bugs on Windows 7 64 bit for me with different user accounts. Anyone else facing them?)

Read More >>>>

NOTE: This is some advanced stuff and you may lose a finger. No warranty express or implied. There's always workarounds somewhere on the 'tubes, but this stuff works only in Win7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. Be afraid.

I use a lot of Virtual Machines. I've used VMWare, VirtualBox, HyperV and Virtual PC. Recently, since all my machines have been updated to Windows 7 RC, I've downloaded Windows Virtual PC so I could use "Virtual XP." I've got a lot of VHD (Virtual Hard Drive Files) around now.

You can see here where I've got a VM called "Dev10onVista" because I can use not just Windows XP, but also Vista. However, it's still a VM and it's slower than I'd like.

Dan has a great post on the pros and cons of Virtualization vs. Dual Booting. He points out:

• Multiboot:
  • Good performance (runs natively on the machine, no extra abstraction layers)
  • Good hardware integration (everything that is built into or attached to the machine is visible to the running OS)
  • Clunky setup (different boot loaders overwriting each other, partitions cannot easily be resized or moved around)
• Virtualisation
  • Very flexible (only takes up as much hard disk space as the solution requires)
  • Can run virtually any Operating System
  • Non-Optimal performance (running piggyback off another Operating System, consuming resource in both)
  • Marginal hardware integration (all major system components are virtual only; depending on the virtualisation solution, SOME components might be surfaced inside the virtual machine)

This is right on. I'm always afraid to multi-boot, concerned that one OS will some how make one of the others angry, as they are all sharing disks.

I'm just not willing to install VS2010 Beta 1 on bare hardware just now, as I know I'll want to put the Next Beta on a clean machine. I *could* sacrifice an extra machine, but I'd rather use the main machine I always use. I want less virtual, more machine.

Mounting/Attaching VHDs like Hard Drives

With Windows 7 I can mount VHD and use them like regular hard drives. Just type in "Disk Management" from your start menu. From the Action menu I can select "Create VHD" or "Attach VHD." Below I'd just attached a 7 GIG VHD file that thinks it's a 40 gig hard drive. Notice that the disk icon is blue. This is a really convenient way to just "pass a hard drive around as a file" as well as a nice way to get files on and off VMs that aren't running.

The best part is that I can make one of these during Windows 7 setup (NOTE: This is advanced and may hurt you, your computer, or your cat.) and install Win7 directly to it.

Install Windows 7 to a new, fresh VHD

Assuming you already have a Windows 7 installation, you can boot off the Windows 7 DVD, and when it gets to "Install Now" click "Repair Your Computer." Don't select an installation, then select Command Prompt. (You can also press Shift-F10) to open a command prompt.

From the Command Prompt, run "diskpart."

Make a new VHD on an internal fixed disk:

create vdisk file="C:\win7\win7.vhd" type=expandable maximum=50000

This will make an expandable VHD with a 50Gig max, for example. Now select it and attach/mount it:

select vdisk file="c:\win7\win7.vhd"
attach vdisk

Type "exit" and go back to the setup window and install Win7. Make sure you select the correct disk - the new virtual one!

Setting up your Windows Boot Menu to boot to an Existing VHD

If you have an existing Win 7 VHD already, or perhaps you've taking your Windows 7 installation Disc and "syspreped" a VHD image. Now, from an Administrator Command Prompt, you need to tell the Windows Boot Manager that there's another option. You go:

C:\>bcdedit /copy {current} /d "My New VHD Option"

This will return a GUID. Select it using the Mark command by right-clicking in the Command Prompt and copy it to the clipboard.

Now, using that {guid}, type these commands:

C:\>bcdedit /set {guid} device vhd=[driveletter:]\<directory>\<vhd filename>
C:\>bcdedit /set {guid} osdevice vhd=[driverletter:]\<directory>\<vhd filename>
C:\>bcdedit /set {guid} detecthal on

See the [driveletter:] stuff in brackets? It's NOT obvious, but you need to include those, so:

bcdedit /set {guid} device vhd=[C:]\win7\win7.vhd

You can confirm it's setup with bcdedit /v:. You'll see something like this. The interesting part is at the bottom.

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier              {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device                  partition=C:
description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default                 {34433bb7-628f-11dc-a941-001a6bcd5d3a}
resumeobject            {34433bb8-628f-11dc-a941-001a6bcd5d3a}
displayorder            {34433bb7-628f-11dc-a941-001a6bcd5d3a}
                        {280ffa1e-f8a9-11dd-b0a9-001c26fdc6b4}
toolsdisplayorder       {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout                 30
custom:45000001         1

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {34433bb7-628f-11dc-a941-001a6bcd5d3a}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows 7
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}
recoverysequence        {280ffa1b-f8a9-11dd-b0a9-001c26fdc6b4}
recoveryenabled         Yes
testsigning             Yes
osdevice                partition=C:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {34433bb8-628f-11dc-a941-001a6bcd5d3a}
nx                      OptIn
custom:42000002         \system32\winload.exe
custom:45000001         2
custom:47000005         301989892
                        3

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {280ffa1e-f8a9-11dd-b0a9-001c26fdc6b4}
device                  vhd=[C:]\VMs\Win7\Win7.vhd,locate=custom:12000002
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Win 7 VHD - Dev10
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}
recoverysequence        {280ffa1b-f8a9-11dd-b0a9-001c26fdc6b4}
recoveryenabled         Yes
testsigning             Yes
osdevice                vhd=[C:]\VMs\Win7\Win7.vhd,locate=custom:22000002
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {34433bb8-628f-11dc-a941-001a6bcd5d3a}
nx                      OptIn
detecthal               Yes
custom:42000002         \system32\winload.exe
custom:45000001         2
custom:47000005         301989892
                        3

If it doesn't work, you can always run bcdedit /delete {guid} /cleanup and try again.

Here's what my Boot Manager (pressing F8 when I start up my machine) looks like now:

Now, I can boot up with my VHD mounted. Am I running a Virtual machine? No. I'm running Windows, on the hardware, with only the DISK Virtualized. I don't work for that team, but I'm guessing I'm losing 3-5% (that number came out of my butt) on the disk side - and nothing anywhere else. How do I know? Well, Windows Experience is smart enough to keep me from checking (although I could use another disk tester tool, but I'll leave that as an exercise to the Reader.).

I notice that Disk Management still gives me access to my was-C: drive, even though the VHD is now my C. My hardware C: drive got moved down, and it's E: now. Nice than I can still see it!

What does the Device Manager say? It says the Msft Virtual Disk SCSI Disk Drive is there! That's the only "virtual" thing going on here. Notice I've still got my actual Video Drivers (running multiple monitors across multiple display drivers). All my stuff is there, because I've got, forgive me, less virtual and more machine.

Hey, are those my four processors and my 8 gigs or RAM? Ah, yes, they are.

Love it. I'm going to use the hell out of it.

A few caveats. One, I haven't figured out how boot off a VHD that is on USB or External Drive. I'm looking into it. It may be because there's no drive letter assigned yet, or that I'm an idiot. We'll see. Second, doing this makes your VHD less portable, because if you move it inside Virtual PC or to another machine, all the devices will freak out and try to reinstall (or maybe just not work) so be aware of that.

That said, I'm running Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1 without fear on my awesome hardware with hardware-speeds. Shiny.

From: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/LessVirtualMoreMachineWindows7AndTheMagicOfBootToVHD.aspx

Read More >>>>

Though the Windows 7 RC SDK was released about 2 weeks before Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1, it was not possible to incorporate that release into VS 2010 Beta 1. As a result, the Windows SDK components that ship as part of Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1 are the Windows 7 Beta SDK versions.

This post will describe how you can use the Native Multitargeting feature in Visual Studio 2010 to compile and link your applications against the Windows SDK supporting Windows 7 RC.

Step 1: Download and install the RC SDK from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F75F2CA8-C1E4-4801-9281-2F5F28F12DBD&displaylang=en

Step 2: Add the Windows 7 SDK as a platform target to Visual Studio:

• a) Download the Windows7SDK.zip file attached to this blog post.
• b) Extract the zip file into The Program Files directory (On 64 bit versions of Windows into the Program Files (x86) directory) by opening it up in Explorer and selecting Extract All Files. In the dialog select the appropriate directory. If you are unsure what the Program Files Directory is on your system, you can type %ProgramFiles% (or %ProgramFiles(x86)% for a 64 bit OS) into the Address bar of an Explorer window and press enter. The Address bar will then show the correct path that you can copy and paste. Extract, then answer yes to the question about merging contents of the directories.
• c) After the extract, verify that the directory %ProgramFiles%\ MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\Platforms\Win32\PlatformToolsets\Windows7SDK was created and contains the following 2 files: Microsoft.Cpp.Win32.Windows7SDK.props and Microsoft.Cpp.Win32.Windows7SDK.targets. (For a 64 bit OS, the directory should start at %ProgramFiles(x86)%).

For each project that you want to target at the RC version of the Windows 7 SDK do the following:

• 1) Open the Solution containing the project.
• 2) Right Click the Project node in the Solution Explorer pane and select Properties.
• 3) Select the Configuration Properties, General from the list in the left pane.
• 4) Select All Configurations in the Configuration dropdown.
• 5) Select Windows7SDK in the Platform Toolset option in the right pane under the General category.

Note that the platform configuration we added is just for developing 32-bit applications. One could create a similar Platform for X64 builds, but these are not included here.

We have verified basic correctness, but have not run a comprehensive set of test cases. More specifically this is the level of correctness testing we have done:

Built an MFC app and a Windows Forms app with Dev10 targeting v100
Built an MFC app and a Windows Forms app with Dev10 + WinSDK toolset targeting v100
Built an MFC app and a Windows Forms app with Dev10 + WinSDK toolset targeting WinSDK7RC
Built an MFC app and a Windows Forms app WinForms with Dev10 + WinSDK toolset + WinSDK RC installed and targeting v100
Built an MFC app and a Windows Forms app with Dev10 + WinSDK toolset + WinSDK RC installed and targeting WinSDK7RC

Note that some Windows 7 RC SDK samples do not build in Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1. We are investigating these issues and will publish information about this on the Windows SDK team blog as it becomes available.

We will also be posting specifically about Native Multitargeting in detail in the next couple weeks on the Visual C++ blog. If you are interested in some background information before that, please take a look at the following entry on Soma's blog giving a brief overview: http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2008/11/21/c-enhancements-in-vs-2010.aspx

From: MSDN Blog

Read More >>>>

In the past, when spam mail was in its infancy, simply setting up certain keyword rules on your anti spam exchange server would usually do the trick to block unsolicited mail. However, now that over 75% of Internet email consists of spam, a more complete and realistic solution is required. As a network administrator of an exchange server, you are faced with two options; a ‘Client-Based Solution’ or a ‘Server Based Solution’. A server based anti spam exchange solution is usually more recommendable as it blocks the spam before it reaches your mail server but if you can’t resort to this method then feel free to give client based solutions a go. With the multitude of antispam solutions for Exchange, choosing the anti spam exchange server that’s suited to your network’s present and future needs is no simple task. Here is a list of the top 5  Anti Spam Exchange Server Filters I have come across the internet recently.

1. GFI MailEssentials for Exchange/SMTP

GFI MailEssentials features not one, but two anti-spam engines to give administrators an ultra high spam capture rate out-of-the-box with minimal configuration. Not only does it have one of the highest spam capture rates in the industry, over 99%, but it is also the market leader for reducing false positives and ships at the best price available.

2. SecurityGateway for Exchange / SMTP Servers

SecurityGateway Email Spam Firewall for Exchange/SMTP Servers provides affordable inbound and outbound email security with a powerful spam filter that serves as a Microsoft Exchange or SMTP firewall. Its multiple analysis tools separate threats from legitimate email, while leveraging proven anti-spam, anti-virus, anti-phishing, and anti-spoofing technologies to produce a 99% spam blocking rate and achieve nearly zero false-positive results.

3. XWall for Microsoft Exchange

Works with: Every version of Exchange server including
Exchange 2000/2003/2007, SBS 2000/2003 and Exchange 5.5; Any SMTP server like IMail, Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise; Junk-E-Mail Folder of Exchange 2003/2007 using XWALLFilter event sink
Dial-up, dial-up routers, ADSL and leased-line connections to the Internet; Spam Detection using: Multi Real-time Blackhole List - RBL / SLS / SPAM database; Greylisting spam filter; SURBL - Spam URI Real-time Blocklists - www.surbl.org; Bayesian pattern filter; SPF - Sender Permitted From - Sender Policy Framework; Sender ID Central Checksum Service (CCS) bulk e-mail detection; Heuristic spam filter; Phishing filter; Image spam filter and much more!

4. Spam Titan ISO

SpamTitan software allows you to create an email appliance for your gateway offering protection from Viruses, Spam, Malware, Phishing and unwanted content.

5. Trend Micro ScanMail for Microsoft Exchange

Trend Micro ScanMail for Microsoft Exchange guards against viruses, Trojans, worms, and other malicious code hidden in email attachments. By filtering inbound/outbound SMTP connector-level traffic, it blocks threats before they can enter or leave the mail server. For additional security, Trend Micro ScanMail Suite for Microsoft Exchange combines virus protection with new anti-spam and advanced content filtering technology. A centralized management console makes it easy to deploy group configurations, scan settings, notifications, and automatic updates—across all Exchange servers.

From: http://howtofixcomputerproblems.com/computer-tips/top-5-anti-spam-exchange-server-software/

Read More >>>>

Since Windows 7 RC download is available to public. How sure that our pc machine is completely capable to run Windows 7 flawlessly ? So, here is Windows 7 upgrade advisor software to determine whether or not your PC is able to run Windows 7 or meet Windows 7 System requirement.

Firstly, Windows 7 upgrade Advisor will analyze whether your Windows operating system is compatible for Windows 7 upgrading. Then check Windows Mail and parental control software.

After Windows 7 upgrade advisor check OS and software capabilities, then the tools check your computer hardware such as CPU processor, storage, memory and graphics as well as identifies any compatibility issues with installed devices. Don’t worry this tool will not leave you in the dark should you have any compatibility issue; it provides you guidance on how to sort out the problem.

However, This Windows 7 upgrade advisor is available on English only. Beside that, this Windows 7 upgrade advisor has some requirement before checking your computer.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Software Requirements

• Operating Systems: Windows Vista; Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows 7
• .NET 2.0 Framework or higher if running on Windows XP

Download Windows 7 PC Advisor Beta

Read More >>>>

If you want to become an expert in the Windows 7 OS then go through the variety of Microsoft training, books, and certifications that are available for free to help you gain the skills and knowledge you need to succeed. Microsoft has also released some free eLearning content to enhance Windows 7 skills. Free Windows 7 training content which is available on eLearning Clinics is targeted at audiences - Consumers, IT Professionals and Information Workers.

• What’s New in Windows 7 for Consumers
• What’s New in Windows 7 for IT Professionals
• What’s New in Windows 7 for Information Workers

What’s New in Windows 7 for Consumers (1 Hour)
Certain key enhancements has been done in Windows 7 that help you work more efficiently and easily with your computers. The course will provide you with an overview of such enhancements and tools that you can use to organize, find, protect, and share your information. This clinic covers the following topics.

1. Desktop and Taskbar Enhancements
2. Sharing, Search, and Security
3. New Tools and Experiences

What’s New in Windows 7 for IT Professionals (2 Hours)

It will provide you with an overview of the improvements to deployment, security, manageability, and performance in Windows 7 that meets the IT professional needs. This clinic covers the following topics.

1. Overview of Deployment Enhancements
2. Overview of Security Enhancements
3. Overview of Manageability and Performance Enhancements

What’s New in Windows 7 for Information Workers (2 Hours)

It provides you with an overview of key enhancements in Windows 7, which help information workers to improve their productivity as well as work in a more secure environment. This clinic covers the following topics.

1. Be More Productive with Windows 7
2. Be More Secure with Windows 7
3. Get Connected Faster and Easier with Windows 7

From: http://www.aboutonlinetips.com/windows-7-elearning-clinics/

Read More >>>>

I have found a much easier way to install Windows 7 from a USB Flash drive. Unlike other methods where you have to write complicated commands, this method can be completed even by those who have very little computer background.

The whole process takes only two steps, run UNetbootin, load the Windows 7 ISO file, and finally restart your computer. See how we installed Ubuntu from USB using UNetbootin here.

Before you begin, you will require the following:

• USB Flash Drive (4GB minimum)
• Windows 7 ISO Image file
• UNetbootin

Now insert the USB drive, run UNetbootin, and select Disk Image as ISO. Browse your local drive for Windows 7 ISO that you downloaded and click Open. Now Select Type as USB and choose the drive. Once done, it will look like a bit similar to the screenshot shown below.

Click OK and it will begin extracting all installation files to the USB drive. The whole process will take some time(10-15 minutes), so have patience.

Once the installation is complete, reboot your computer. Now while your system is starting up press the appropriate button(usually F1, F2, F12, ESC, Backspace, or Escape) to bring up Bios Boot Menu. Change the startup order to boot USB by default, usually you will have to press F6 to move the selected USB device on top. Once done, save changes and restart the system.

Wasn’t that easy? Enjoy!

From: http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/install-windows-7-from-usb-drive-requires-2-simple-steps/

Read More >>>>

Now most of you with Windows 7 must be playing your hacks on it.  Have you tried installing applications in Windows 7? Well, it's not always a piece of cake. While installing Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 you might get stuck up with an error message. The file could not be written. Virtual hard disk could not be attached to the virtual machine. Please check the values provided and try again.

Things are horrible especially, if you have over-protective antivirus suites like Kaspersky Internet Security. What's  surprises is that the error occurs even if computer hardware specifications matches the system requirements of Windows 7.
After a thorough research I could put the things in shape. I'll share with you how to fix this error in Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode installation.

Before routing to the solution let me tell you cause of the error. The problem lies in the Kespersky Internet Security and Kespersky Anti-virus or other similar security problem. It protects the PC from unknown or potentially malicious application activities. The proactive Application Activity Analyzer fails the installation of Windows XP Mode.

Solution

Now let's see how to fix the problem

Go to the Application Activity Analyzer or Proactive Defense setting (depending on the version of Kaspersky you are using) and disable the detection and scanning of Hidden Object.  Now install the Windows XP mode without any hassle.

Alteratively, you can disable the Kaspersky or any antivirus solution installed on the system. Now install the Virtual Windows XP Mode. After the installation is completed, re-enable the anti-virus protection.

Read More >>>>

When Windows 7 goes on sale 2H’2009 (maybe on October 23), it is expected to create a positive side-effect for the DRAM industry. The OS’s large memory needs will produce a notable increase in DRAM demand, according to Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC) Chairman, Frank Huang, who expects it to exceed capacity when launched.

Huang believes 3Q DRAM supply will fall short of demand sparked by the hardware and machine ramp-up in advance of Windows 7 going on sale. Windows 7 is expected to not only lift PC purchases, but also spawn upgrades in previous Vista users who will take advantage of the lower cost memory available today.

It’s believed the new OS and its memory requirements will contribute to the entire DRAM chip sector, which for the last two years has been in the midst of its largest ever decline — something caused by DRAM makers erroneously believing previously that Vista would spark a huge increase in DRAM demand.

Huang reported that, due to the decline, Samsung and Hynix have begun phasing out their 200mm wafer production lines, and have allocated new capacity for expansions in NAND flash chip production.

DRAMeXchange shows that spot prices have increased to $1.30 per 1Gb eTT DDR2 chips, which is notably higher than the sub-$1.00 price seen at the end of April, and well on its way to projected $1.50 by the start of 3Q, as was predicted earlier by Kingston Technology’s Scott Chen.

Microsoft is receiving extremely positive reviews from its Windows 7 beta program, which is unprecedented in scope in the company’s history. The company has also officially announced Windows 7 will be available by “the holiday season”.

Rick’s Opinion

DRAM is cheap, cheap, cheap. For those who build computer systems as a hobby or for family and friends, if you’ve been out of the game for a year or two, you might be amazed. NewEgg is selling 4GB DDR2-800 (PC2 6400) modules for $55.49 with free shipping (8GB will cost you $110.98). And if your motherboard has four slots, you can go with 4x 2GB chips, which are selling for $37.99 for DDR2-800 (PC2 6400) in 2x 2GB blocks, for $37.99 (meaning 8GB will cost you $75.98).

I can remember buying 1GB of memory for my old dual-socket Intel Pentium III Xeon machine (4x 256MB DIMMs) and paying well over $400 for it. Today, DDR2-667 (PC2 5400) 512MB DIMMs sell for $7.99 each. It’s just amazing.

When these per-chip prices (each DIMM is made up of several eTT DDR2 chips of various capacity, such as 16Gb, 32Gb, 64Gb, etc.) reach the $1.50 per 1Gb mark, the end-user won’t see much of a price change — at least not at first. However, the companies selling DRAM will again become either profitable, or they’ll begin losing less money as DRAM has always been an extremely tight industry for revenue, cost of manufacturing and market conditions. (Source)

Read More >>>>

Microsoft Office 2010 (codename Office 14) is the next version of the Microsoft Office productivity suite for Microsoft Windows. It entered development during 2006 while Microsoft was finishing work on Microsoft Office 12, which was released as the 2007 Microsoft Office System.
It was previously thought that Office 2010 would ship in the first half of 2009, but Steve Ballmer has officially announced that Office 2010 will ship in 2010. The new version will implement the ISO compliant version of Office Open XML which was standardized as ISO 29500 in March 2008.
The software giant plans to offer a Web-based version of its Office productivity suite, known as Office Web that will debut with the release of Office 2010. Office Web will include online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. The next versions of Microsoft Office Visio, OneNote, Microsoft Office Project, and Publisher will feature the ribbon interface element used in other Office 2007 applications.
Builds
Earlier this year, on April 15, 2009, Microsoft confirmed that Office 2010 will be officially released in the first quarter of 2010. They also announced on May 12, 2009 at an event, that Office 2010 will begin technical testing during July. It will also be the first version of Office to ship in both 32-Bit and 64-bit versions.
New features
At present, the technical preview of Office 2010 would not be available as it will be starting from July onwards, but when Microsoft used it to show improved integration with Windows 7 at its event this week, various experts find out some of the new features of the new Office.
•    The ribbon surface was introduced in Office 2007 and it is here to stay, but now the Office 2010 ribbon gets the flatter Windows 7 look. Ribbon is a form of toolbar, combined with a tab bar.
•    In the new application, instead of the round Office icon, there is a button in each app that looks like the buttons for the different tabs on the ribbon, in the signature colour of that application (green for Excel, blue for Word, red for PowerPoint, yellow for Outlook and so on).
•    The app windows, which were removed in Office 2007, get their window menus back. The app let you restore, move, size, minimise, maximise or close the window.
•    Now with a right-click on the Outlook icon on the taskbar, user can create a new email message, appointment, contact or task, or open the inbox, calendar, contact or tasks window.
•    In the new office, you can drag a file from the jump-list of any application onto the navigation pane in Outlook to create a new mail message with the file as an attachment. Outlook can automatically ignore all the replies of the messages you are not interested in.
•    The company says user can create his own Quick Steps, making them sound like a combination of the Quick Access Toolbar and macros. For e.g., common tasks like filing a message, creating a meeting, marking a flagged message and deleting it at the same time. Also, user can create quick steps for things he do over and over again in Outlook.
•    In new Office outlook, voice mail can be converted to the text and sent as an email. Also, it can sync text messages from a Windows Mobile 6.1 phone into user’s inbox and reply to them.
•    When you reply all to messages you were BCC on, a warning is displayed on the desktop. Redmond based company claims that starting, searching and shutting down Outlook are all much faster and also promises that Outlook will run and search faster than the 2007 release.
•    At present, there is no news on the next version of Office for the Mac, but the next version of Outlook Web Access will run on Safari and Firefox with all features, rather than in a Lite version.
Anuj Kumar/ITvoir Network  (Source)

Read More >>>>