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Windows
Info, tips, hints and complaints about the Microsoft Windows operating system.
How to add a new user to Windows 7
Aug 20th
This info applies to Windows 7, and I understand it also works in Windows Vista.
Click Start > Control Panel > under User Accounts and Family Safety, click Add or remove user accounts.
Next, type in your new account name (John, The Laptop, etc…) and choose the account type “Standard user” (see note below). Now click the Create Account button. At this point you can add a password to your new account, or there are other options like managing other users. When you are done close the window and you’ve created your new user. Next time you start or reboot your computer, it will stop and let you choose which profile you wish to login with.
NOTE: Only choose an Administrator if you need to, and you understand exactly what that means. Otherwise you can end up with big trouble as you accidentally leave your computer less secure than it could be. If you needed a user with Administrator privileges you probably wouldn’t be reading this unless you need a refresher.
Resize Desktop Icons in Windows 7
Jun 15th
I’ve got a new computer running Windows 7 Home Premium and at 1024×768 the desktop icons seemed huge. I found a nice shortcut to resize the desktop icons (I still don’t know the “right” way) that is right quick and intuitive.
Resize Desktop Icons in Windows 7
First, click the desktop once in an empty area to give it “focus”. Next, hold down the CTRL button and scroll with the mouse wheel. Scroll forward (up) to increase icon size, scroll backward (down) to decrease desktop icons and make them smaller. Note this will resize the icons – not the text under them.
Now I’ve also changed my screen resolution to 1280×1024 and they look even better, but I think I’ll monkey around with the size of the icon text some later.
Windows 7 on Windows XP Machine
Jun 7th
Thanks to Sun Microsystem’s VirtualBox I can run both Windows XP and Windows 7 (Release Candidate) on my Windows XP machine with a 2.4GHz Athlon CPU and 2GB of RAM. Naturally, its not the fastest running setup mainly due to RAM, but its really cool for me. I wanted to check out Windows 7 first-hand and I didn’t feel like figuring out how to partition my laptop’s hard disk into partitions to allow Windows 7 to be run along-side Windows Vista or by overwriting it.
Click to enlarge screenshots.
Windows 7 – Hype or Heaven?
Jun 3rd
Microsoft is Marketing Genius
An IT buddy of mine was recently telling me how IT experts were very unhappy with Windows Vista, and that the many in the IT community are gravitating toward recommending Windows XP over Windows Vista. As a matter-of-fact, Microsoft has extended the life of Windows XP, in essence giving support to is longer so people have the option to skip Vista and go straight to Windows 7 – go IT experts! So here comes Windows 7 and then, what? Magic? Well, I think Windows should run better – you know, be more secure and crash less, but maybe Windows 7 does have some magic.
There is no question Microsoft is good at marketing, the real question is can they deliver a more bullet-proof Windows OS that meets the marketing hype, and are they just making over Windows Vista? Will people switch from Vista to Windows 7?
Windows 7 Preview from Youtube
MORE WINDOWS 7
Windows 7 Videos on Microsoft.com
Windows 7 Videos on Youtube.com
Windows 7 Screenshots
Windows 7, Is it Windows Vista?
Windows 7 Screenshots
Windows 7 – Good Stuff or Fluff?
Feb 18th
Nosing around for good Windows news sites today I found this Windows 7 video. It got my interest so I started watching an immediately it reminded me of a Windows Touch Screen video I’d watched months back. The video said that among other things the new computer could be used by restaurants allowing patrons to order by computer from their table, and was really neat (hint of sarcasm) for organizing and viewing your digital photo collection.
At any rate watching the video below I couldn’t help but wonder if Microsoft’s main goal with Windows 7 leans more toward power and security or fluff and sale-ability. While I realize one of the reasons the public views Windows as pockmarked with security problems ( does “… vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute…” ring a bell?) is because Windows is a high profile target.
I’m more concerned about Windows being more secure, less prone to crash, less prone to slow dramatically with use as time goes by (as the Registry gets bloated) and I can’t hjelp but wonder if Microsoft is seriously addressing this in Windows 7, or are they focused too much on the ‘fluff’ their marketing department believe will sell this next iteration of Windows?
WINDOWS 7 YOUTUBE
Microsoft At It Again – Mojave Commercials on TV
Dec 13th
Well sitting around innocently tonight I got hit with a Window Mojave commercial. I guess they have to talk people into buying Vista PC’s during the holiday season.
WINDOWS MOJAVE COMMERCIAL
Run Windows Update in Firefox!
Sep 17th
I only use Internet Explorer when I must, and that may change since I’ve read How to run Microsoft Update using Firefox on PCTips Box. After finding out I didn’t have to use Internet Explorer (IE) to run Windows Update (and possibly other sites that refuse to work in anything besides IE) I immediately went to Firefox Add-ons’ IE Tab page . As of this post they have downloadable versions of IE Tab for Firefox 1.5 through 3.
I installed it and restarted Firefox, went to google and searched Windows Update then right-clicked the link and selected the “Open Link in IE Tab” and tried it out right away. Windows Update ran flawlessly – well not really, but it only did the normal silly stuff it does in IE like warnign me to install the Critical Updates for Windows XP when none are available.
Get IE Tab!
