Archive for November, 2009

Fix: Cannot Change Wallpaper Picture Position to Tile or Center in HP/Compaq PCs Running Windows 7

Certain models of Compaq Presario and HP PCs preinstalled with Windows 7 exhibit a problem where users cannot change the desktop wallpaper picture position to Fill, Fit, Center or Tile. It may default to Stretch mode, and changes made by users do not take effect. To fix this problem, HP released a SoftPaq (SP45575 "Wallpaper Picture Position Enabler") which applies to specific models of Compaq Presario and HP PCs.

[Download SP45575.exe]

TITLE: Wallpaper Picture Position Enabler

VERSION: 1.00 REV: A

DESCRIPTION: This package provides the Wallpaper Picture Position Enabler for the supported notebook/laptop models and operating systems. The Wallpaper Picture Position Enabler enables the Wallpaper Background Picture Position function to be changed from Stretched to Fill, Fit, Tile, or Center.

For more information about this SoftPaq and the affected PC model numbers, see Wallpaper Picture Position Enabler Read Me file at HP’s Website.

How to Restore All Windows in a Grouped Taskbar Button in Windows 7?

If you haven’t gone through the Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts list yet, you may be wondering if it’s possible to open all the windows which are grouped under a single icon in the Taskbar. Luckily, there is a keyboard shortcut available for this so that you don’t have to open each window in the group one at a time.

Restore all windows in a group

To restore all windows in a group, press the SHIFT key down, right-click on the group icon in the Taskbar. You’ll see a menu with the following options.

  • Cascade
  • Show windows stacked
  • Show windows side by side
  • Restore all windows
  • Minimize all windows
  • Close all windows

Click Restore all windows.

Open windows one at a time

To open each window at a time, hold the CTRL key and click on the group icon. This cycles through the windows in that group.

Check out the Windows 7 Keyboard shortcuts list and make the most use of it. Additionally, you’d like to read about the Hidden context menu items in Windows 7.

How to Uninstall Winter Fun Pack 2004 After Upgrading to Windows 7 or Vista

Did you install the Microsoft® Winter Fun Pack 2004 in your Windows XP system earlier, and then upgraded the system to Windows 7 or Windows Vista? In that case, the uninstaller for Winter Fun Pack 2004 may not work correctly under Windows 7/Vista, throwing out error code 1713. If the uninstaller does not work, you can remove the related files and registry entries manually.

The list of registry entries and files added by Microsoft® Winter Fun Pack 2004 for Windows® XP is available at the following link:

Browser Defender™ – Download Analysis for winterfunpack2004forwindowsxp.msi

Important: Before proceeding, take a complete registry backup either using System Restore or using a program like ERUNT. This article is targeted towards intermediate and advanced users.

Registry Fix

To make things easier, I’ve made available a .REG file which removes the Winter Fun Pack 2004 related registry keys. Download winterfunpack-remove.zip (partly based on BrowserDefender.com’s installation track data), unzip and double-click the .REG file to run it.

Things to Remove Manually

1. Registry Values

After running the REG file, you may have to remove some registry values manually:

1. Start Regedit.exe and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Installer \ Folders

2. In the right-pane, delete the values relating to Winter Fun Pack 2004 (Refer the URL above)

3. Exit the Registry Editor.

2. Files & Folders

Use the information at BrowserDefender.com and delete the files and folders added by Winter Fun Pack 2004.

3. Outlook Express Signature

1. Start Outlook Express

2. In the Tools menu, click Options

3. Click Signatures

4. Select MP Song Signature and click Remove

Note: In Microsoft Outlook, you can remove the MP Song Signature via the Tools menu, Options, Mail Format, Signatures.

5. Click OK.

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool Creates Bootable USB Flash Drive

Do you own a Netbook without a CD/DVD drive, but want to install Windows 7 on it? No problem! Microsoft has made available a tool known as Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, which takes an ISO image and creates a bootable USB device that can be used to install Windows 7. The utility can create a Windows 7 installation DVD from the ISO file as well.

Update (Nov 10, 2009): Microsoft pulls download tool over GPL violation accusation

Download Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from Microsoft Store Website. To copy the ISO image to USB flash drive, ensure that the drive has minimum 4 GB of free space.

Additional Note

The tool works only for the Windows 7 ISO image downloaded from online Microsoft Store. It throws the following error if you use a custom Windows 7 ISO image.

The selected file is not a valid ISO file. Please select a valid ISO file and try again.

However, Rafael Rivera of Within Windows has written a tool that will allow you to use your own ISOs with the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. For more information, read the excellent post Use the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool with custom ISOs by Rafael.