Archive for the ‘Windows 7’ Category

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Use the Windows 7 Compatibility Center to Know if a Software or Hardware Supports Windows 7

Do you own a old hardware (for example printer, scanner, or any other device) or software and want to check its compatibility with Windows 7? Apart from using the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, there is an excellent online resource which tells you whether a software or hardware is compatible with Windows 7 or not. It’s the Windows 7 Compatibility Center which list thousands of products and clearly label their compatibility status for Windows 7.

I used the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor before upgrading a computer running Windows Vista. The Upgrade Advisor had no compatibility information about the HP Deskjet 3745 Printer which was connected to the system.

Then I visited the Windows 7 Compatibility Center and looked up compatibility information for HP Deskjet 3745. It was listed as compatible.

Clicking the Learn more link provided the driver download URL (linking to manufacturer’s site.)

Editor’s note: The Windows 7 Compatibility Center uses five different icons so you can identify a product’s compatibility status. To know what each icon means, read Question #3 in Windows 7 Compatibility Center FAQ.

Published on 25th October 2009
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How to Restore Missing Windows Media Center AutoPlay Entries in Windows 7

After installing or upgrading to Windows 7, you may notice that the AutoPlay dialog does not list Windows Media Center as one of the options.

This is the case when you open Change AutoPlay settings applet in Control Panel.

Windows 7 does not seem to include the Windows Media Center AutoPlay registry entries by default. However, you can add the necessary entries manually or export the keys from a Windows Vista PC (which is what I did). The AutoPlay entries are populated from this registry branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ explorer \ AutoplayHandlers

Tip: Keys and Values starting with the word "EHome" (EHomeDVDDropTarget, EHomeMusicDropTarget, EHomePhotosHandler, EHomeSVCDDropTarget, EHomeVCDDropTarget,  EHomeVideosHandler) are the ones we need.

I’ve made available a REG file which adds all of the Windows Media Center AutoPlay handler entries to the registry.

Registry Fix

Download w7-ehome-autoplay.zip, and save to Desktop. Unzip and run the enclosed REG file.

Windows Media Center is now added to the AutoPlay dialog!

Published on 24th October 2009
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Free Windows 7 Desktop Themes and Backgrounds From Microsoft

Microsoft has made available several fun extras to give your PC a personal touch. These extras include new desktop themes, backgrounds and gadgets for Windows 7. Visit the Personalization Gallery to download them.

(via The Windows Club)

Want to create our own theme, check out this guide.

Published on 22nd October 2009
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Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (Final) Is Released

Getting ready to upgrade to Windows 7? Check out the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor tool from Microsoft, which scans your hardware, devices, and installed programs for known compatibility issues, gives you guidance on how to resolve potential issues found, and recommends what to do before you upgrade.

Download Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.

(Supports Windows 7; Windows Vista; Windows XP Service Pack 2)

Be running the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, plug in and turn on any USB devices or other devices, such as printers, external hard disks, and scanners, that you regularly use with the PC you’re checking.

Screenshots

Published on 22nd October 2009
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Microsoft Support Knowledge Base Search Using Windows 7 Search Connector

Here is a Windows 7 Search Connector which uses Windows Live Search to search Microsoft Knowledge Base (MSKB) articles from within Windows Explorer.

Download MSKB.osdx and save to Desktop.

Double-click the file to add the Search Connector, and click Add when prompted.

This adds the MSKB Search Connector and then opens Windows Explorer. Type in a sample search query.

Fig 2: List of Windows 7 articles about "Aero".

And, to download the Winhelponline Search Connector, see article Creating Search Federation Providers (Connectors) in Windows 7.

Published on 16th October 2009
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Fix for Event Log Service Startup Error 1079

When you start the Event Viewer, the following error message may be shown.

Event Log service is unavailable. Verify that the service is running.

Any attempts to start the Event Log service results in the following error:

Windows could not start the Windows Event Log service on Local Computer.
Error 1079: The account specified for this service is different from the account specified for other services running in the same process.

As the Windows Event Log service isn’t running, starting Task Scheduler results in the following error:

Windows could not start the Task Scheduler service on Local Computer.
Error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start.

This problem was reported by one of our readers via email, and it has been fixed. Service startup error 1079 occurs if the logon account for the service is incorrectly set. Usually this is resolved by fixing the service logon account (via the Log On tab in the Property sheet) via the Services MMC (services.msc)

This can’t be done in case of Windows Event Log, where the Log On tab controls remain grayed out by default.

So, we need to alter the ObjectName registry value in the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\eventlog

Start the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) and navigate to the above branch:

Double-click ObjectName value and set its data as NT AUTHORITY\LocalService {for Windows Vista & Windows 7}

Double-click ObjectName value and set its data as LocalSystem {for Windows XP}

Restart Windows.

Registry Fix

To automate the above setting, download eventlog-svc-fix.zip and run the REG file which is applicable for your Operating System. The zip file includes the REG fixes for Windows XP and Windows 7/Vista. Restart Windows after applying the fix.

Published on 7th October 2009
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Jumplist-Launcher: Create Custom Application Jumplists in Windows 7

Jump Lists, a new feature introduced in Windows 7, in which a list of destinations and common tasks associated with an application is attached to that application’s taskbar button. For example, if you right-click on the Notepad application button in the Taskbar, you’ll see the list of most recently opened text files. However, using the Jump Lists feature to add multiple applications in a single Taskbar icon (as a launch pad), is not possible natively. There is a program named Jumplist-Launcher which makes this task possible.

Download Jumplist-Launcher, unzip the contents to a folder and then run the executable.

Add as many programs and folders (up to 60) as you need, and click the Create Jumplist button.

Right-click on the Jumplist-Launcher executable and click Pin to Taskbar.

Your custom Jump List is now ready. Simply right-click on the Jumplist Launcher Taskbar button to see the list of programs you added.

Download Jumplist-Launcher (472 KB) from Ali’s Dünnpfiff’s site.

Published on 24th September 2009
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Posted in Windows 7 | 1 Comment »

Using the Mouse to Copy Command Prompt Text to Clipboard

A useful tip for mousers. Earlier we saw how to copy Command Prompt output to the Windows Clipboard. Did you know that you can accomplish the same using your pointing device (mouse)? Also, you can select a particular section (word or line) and copy it to the Clipboard. Here is how to do so.

1. Create a Command Prompt shortcut (cmd.exe) on the Desktop.

2. Right-click on the Command Prompt shortcut and choose Properties

3. In the Options tab, enable QuickEdit mode, and click OK.

4. Open a Command Prompt window (using the custom shortcut) and type a command.

5. To copy the output, select the text area using the mouse pointer and click the right-mouse button (or press ENTER.)

This tip applies to Windows Vista & Windows 7 as well.

Editor’s note: The above setting works only if you access the Command Prompt using the desktop shortcut that you created earlier. In one of the upcoming articles, we’ll instruct how to make the Quick Edit setting enabled by default, so that it works irrespective of the method you use to access the Command Prompt.

Published on 3rd September 2009
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Posted in Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP | 3 Comments »

Windows 7 Enterprise 90-Day Trial Is Available From TechNet Evaluation Center

Microsoft TechNet Evaluation Center has made available the Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial pack, so that IT Professionals can test their software and hardware on a final version of the product. Note that you don’t need this Trial pack if you have access to MSDN or TechNet Subscription where you can get the final bits of Windows 7.

The 90-day Trial is the full working version of the Windows 7 Enterprise, and it does not require a product key as it is embedded with the download. The 90-day Trial will shut down once every hour when you have reached the end of the 90-day evaluation period.

To learn about other guidelines and to download the product, see TechNet article Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial.

Published on 3rd September 2009
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How to Disable Explorer Search Box Suggestions in Windows 7

Earlier we saw how to clear the search MRU entries in Windows 7. Are you one of those who find the Search Box suggestion pop-ups annoying, and don’t require this feature? Here is a registry edit which disables the search box suggestions in Windows Explorer.

1. Click Start, type Regedit.exe and press ENTER

2. Navigate to the following branch:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Explorer

Note: The above key may not exist by default, and you may need to create the above branch manually.

3. Create a DWORD value named DisableSearchBoxSuggestions

4. Double-click DisableSearchBoxSuggestions and set its data as 1

5. Exit the Registry Editor.

This setting disables suggesting recent queries for the Search Box and prevents entries into the Search Box from being stored in the registry for future references.

Registry Fix

To automate the above download w7-disable-search-suggest.zip, unzip and run the enclosed REG file. To reverse the changes run the file undo.reg

Using the Group Policy Editor

This is only for Windows 7 editions that include the Group Policy Editor.

1. Launch the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)

2. Navigate to the following branch:

User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Explorer

3. Set Turn off display of recent search entries in the Windows Explorer search box to Enabled

4. Exit the Group Policy Editor.

Note: If you enable this policy, Windows Explorer will not show suggestion pop-ups as users type into the Search Box, and it will not store Search Box entries into the registry for future references. If the user types a property, values that match this property will be shown but no data will be saved in the registry or re-shown on subsequent uses of the search box.

Published on 22nd August 2009
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Posted in Windows 7 | 3 Comments »

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