Archive for Windows 7
Run Windows XP Virtually from Windows 7
Posted by: | CommentsThis week, I was finally able to install a virtual machine running XP inside my Windows 7 OS. I say finally because I had been trying to accomplish this for close to a year now. I first tried it when I was running Vista and using Microsoft’s free VM (virtual machine) software. 
When Windows 7 came along in October 2009, I heard about the ability to install a virtual PC and run XP in it. I was disappointed to find out that it was available for those running Windows 7 Enterprise, Ultimate or Professional. When I got Professional, I was crushed again when I found out it had HAV (hardware-assisted virtualization) requirements that my machine could not meet.
Fast forward to this Spring when Microsoft made Hardware virtualization support (HAV) no longer a requirement. So that means if anyone is running Windows 7 Enterprise, Ultimate or Professional, it’s possible to get your computer configured with Virtual PC + XP Professional for free!
I think Microsoft realized the previous requirements left too many users unable to utilize XP Mode. That meant that there were users out there who would NOT upgrade to Windows 7 because they had some legacy software that was holding them back.
I was interested in XP Mode because I have client work that can only be completed by using Windows XP, but I didn’t know that before I upgraded to Windows 7. Luckily, I have a Dell netbook with XP on it, so I could continue with my client. But I’d rather do that work on my production machine.
Next, I want to walk through the steps to get Windows Virtual PC & XP Mode on your machine.
Steps To Install Windows Virtual PC & Windows XP Mode
- Have a PC running Windows 7 Enterprise, Ultimate or Professional edition.
- Download and install the three pieces of software in the order designated (below). This takes quite awhile – I’m talking about hours. This is because you’re installing a new operating system inside another operating system. Even though you get XP with SP 3 on it, there are still many more updates that will need to be installed. Don’t forget to install security software. Might as well use Microsoft Security Essentials – it’s free and lightweight.
Two steps, but budget a lot of time to do this. For me, it took probably 6 hours, but I wasn’t babysitting my computer – I’d come back every once in awhile and do the next thing and walk away again. I also shut down everything else and just put all my machine’s resources on the downloading and installing process.
When it finished with all the updates, I started it up and everything worked! I was able to do my tasks that I had been doing on the Dell netbook on my production machine, so I was very happy.
Here's my machine-I'm running XP inside of Windows 7-Cool!
The purpose of this article is really to let you know that the hardware requirements have been eliminated and now it’s much easier to use this software and have the ability to install and run your XP programs from within Windows 7.
USB Support & 1-Click Launch
Some really cool things they’ve added are the below. We’re not covering that here, but read about these improvements. I’ve heard more technical people talk about that perhaps with the USB support, it might mean that there will be hardware support for our old XP peripherals. That could help a lot of people who have printers that are in great condition, but can’t find a driver in Windows 7.
More Resources – check here for more comprehensive coverage of Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP.
If you’ve tried this, let me know how your experience went.
System Image & Backup With Windows 7
Posted by: | CommentsWindows 7 has been a stable and aesthetically pleasing OS for many. The aesthetic features have been talked up so much, that the great utilities included don’t get enough attention. Today, I want to highlight the Windows 7 System Image and Backup features and how easy they are to utilize.
All Windows 7 versions from Home Premium and up have these features. However, saving your system image or backing up to a network device is available only with Professional and Ultimate.
System Image 
Windows 7 makes it easy to make an image of your hard drive. This means everything – from the OS to all your drivers, data and how everything is set up. Say you get a nasty Facebook virus or click on something by mistake or visit a malicious web page and get infected. Instead of spending hours trying to get rid of it, just restore the image you have backed up to DVDs or an external drive.
To get started, go to your start button>Control Panel>System and Security>Back up your computer. You’ll then see the screen below and you can get your backup started and running in just a few seconds. Of course, you’ll want to put your image on an external drive or network location in case your machine is compromised. In the event you need to restore, just go back to System and Security and follow the prompts to restore your system.
Remember that this is a snapshot in time, so it’s something you may want to schedule monthly or quarterly.
When I finished running my system image, it prompted me to make a repair/boot type disk. It’s good to do this in case your computer becomes unbootable for whatever reason.
Backup
Backing up files, pictures and music is something we all know we need to do, but how many of us only get the ‘backup religion’ after losing data? Don’t let it be you! I use Carbonite, but I like to have another form of backup as well.
Windows 7 makes it easy to click through several screens and tell it which folders you want to have backed up and to what location. You’ll need to remember to have an external drive attached, or if you’re using a network location, that it is available at the time the backup is scheduled to run (backing up to a network available with Ultimate and Professional versions of Windows 7).
You get to the backup area the same way you get to System Image – then select ‘Backup’ and go through a few screens to get it set up. Alternatively, you can let Windows manage what is backed up.The image below would probably capture all data, pictures and music for typical users as those items are stored in our ‘Libraries’. Simply expand to see what has been selected and select and un-select as needed.
The last step is to select the time and frequency of your backups and you’re finished.
Do A Clean Install With Windows 7 Student Version
Posted by: | Comments
Post updated July 8, 2010 – Microsoft closed their student store – but you can still visit this site to upgrade to Windows 7 for students – same price $29.99.
I’d been looking into getting a student version of Windows 7 for my daughter’s computer to upgrade her from Vista. I purchased one this week and the options during the purchase were to download a file, or I could order a DVD for an additional $13 and wait a couple of weeks for it. I know the steps to burn a DVD from an ISO, so I went for the download from Digital River.
To my surprise, the download wasn’t an ISO, it was an .exe format (DLMWin7HP32US.exe). After downloading, there was an extraction process for the purpose of doing an in-place upgrade. An in place upgrade doesn’t wipe the hard drive – it just installs over what is there. Some people may like this, but I wanted to take this opportunity to wipe the hard drive as it’s been used for more than two years with no reformat. In order to do a clean install, I needed to boot from a DVD.
So I did some searches on how people had accomplished this. One site I found was called Windows 7 Forums. There I found a huge message board and instructions on how to create a bootable DVD. I read through that – it seemed too complicated! I then noticed there were over 60 pages of comments from folks. Lots of people had lots of problems following the instructions and having success. I skipped to the last page of comments and found the solution!
Gizmodo came through again. They published a short article with links to an ISO and instructions on how to burn a DVD from the ISO. They said that Microsoft recognized that people were having problems with Digital River and the whole process and had provided an ISO. I did some searches and couldn’t find anything on Microsoft’s site about this (does anybody else find searching Microsoft difficult?)
I was a bit uneasy downloading from the Gizmodo link, but everything turned out great. Below is a graphic of the icon and type and size of the file. The download took a little over an hour and then I had my ISO file. Then I burned my file to a DVD and booted from the DVD (to boot from a CD/DVD, do a restart and hit F12 as it boots up to change the boot sequence to your CD/DVD drive). The install went perfectly and quickly. We waited to activate until the install is completed per Paul Thurrott’s instructions on his blog site. I’ve done it three times with three different types of Windows 7 installs and it’s worked perfectly each time.
Backing Up and Restoring Data & Applications
Before doing the install, we used Windows Easy Transfer to back up all her data to an external hard drive. This was the second time I’ve used Easy Transfer and it’s worked great both times. It keeps all your settings, favorites, email preferences – even her previous desktop wallpaper came back. I highly recommend it. If you are currently using Vista, you have Windows Easy Transfer – not so for XP users.
Easy Transfer backs up everything BUT applications – for reinstalling applications, I found the How-To-Geek had the answer – Ninite! Ninite is a site that lists dozens of the more common web apps that many of us use, as well as even iTunes. Choose the apps that need to be reinstalled on your computer by clicking the check box and Ninite downloads an installer and quietly installs the programs in the background. Some examples of what’s available: Audacity, Firefox, Evernote, Picasa. They had nearly all the apps needed. We chose about three at a time to download and install with no errors. Then because we’d used Windows Easy Transfer, all the settings and preferences were loaded when the applications were started. It was wonderful!
I’ve got one more computer to upgrade and then our household will be all moved over to Windows 7. If anyone has other resources to share or would like to relate their experience on an upgrade, please leave a comment!
Windows 7 Tips, Hacks & News
Posted by: | Comments
from Release Party in NYC (pic from Paul Thurrott's site)
Today was the Windows 7 release date – a date anticipated eagerly by some. Microsoft is hoping to erase the bad memories of Vista from consumers’ minds. I think they’ve hit a homerun with Windows 7. I’ve been using it on two computers since the RC (release candidate), came out earlier this year and won’t go back to either XP or Vista. I found Windows 7 very easy to adapt to. Even my husband caught on to navigating his way easily through the upgrade from XP to 7.
For this week’s article, I’ve decided to assemble a list of tips and special offers I’ve gathered from some of my favorite sites and put them all together to make it easy to browse around and decide what you might want to try to personalize your Windows 7 machine.
The How-To Geek has compiled a list of 175 Windows 7 Tips, Tweaks & Geeky things. They are divided into these categories:
- Windows 7
- Disabling Features and Annoyances
- Networking and Sharing
- Privacy and Security
- Shortcuts and HotKeys
- Tips
One I took advantage of right away was a little tweak to find and install regional themes from Canada, the United Kingdon, Australia and South Africa into my theme gallery. These are already on your hard drive, but not installed. It took just five minutes to get and install them.
Microsoft has 7 Days of Windows 7 special offers – it started on launch day, Thursday, October 21st, so hurry.
Lifehacker assembled it’s ultimate guide to Windows 7. They’ve included screenshots and videos to help you along.
Paul Thurrott of the Windows Supersite and author of recently released Windows 7 Secrets, blogs about the addition of Netflix and Internet TV access through the new Win 7 Media Center.
The world’s first Microsoft retail store opened today in Scottsdale, AZ. Word was there was a crowd of hundreds, some who waited over 12 hours for the store’s opening and to receive goody bags, some containing Ashley Tisdale concert tickets in them.
A couple of months ago, Microsoft was looking for people to host house parties for the Windows 7 launches. If you were one of the ‘chosen’, I understand Microsoft provided party favors and for the host, a copy of Windows 7! Anyone out there a host?
Enjoy!
Microsoft Security Essentials & Bitlocker Tip
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s a new anti-virus/anti-spyware product on the market. This one’s from
Microsoft and it’s free to anyone with a licensed copy of Windows. It’s called Microsoft Security Essentials. It replaced Microsoft’s fee-based One-Care software and was released September 29, 2009.
Information and download of Microsoft Security Essentials
Why is this free, we all ask? Some think Microsoft is trying to make amends for its spotty history of delivering operating systems that continually need patching and updating. We’re all familiar now with ‘patch Tuesday’ – the second Tuesday of every month when there’s usually patches to be pushed out to users.
Some feel that since Microsoft developed the OS, they should take responsibility for providing the tools to keep us safe. The software seems to be working great on my system. It’s lean and fast. It installed in minutes, updated itself and did an initial scan of my computer.
I really like that it’s not bloated like Symantec & Norton. I refuse to run either of these on my systems. I have used both the free AVG and the fee-based Nod-32 by Eset. Both have worked well for me, but I decided to switch over to this product because to me it makes sense to have a security suite by the same people who made my OS.
Here’s a screen shot of a protected computer – green is good!
There are tabs to check out for fine-tuning your system. The settings tab has many options on it for configuring when, where and how to handle whatever the scan might find.
There aren’t a whole lot of reviews out yet, but here’s one by Computerworld that will give you a more technical, in-depth assessment of the software.
Use Bitlocker on a USB Drive
Bitlocker is a premium feature found only on Windows 7 Ultimate & Premium (it’s on higher-priced Vista systems too). It’s an easy-to-use encryption tool to encrypt your entire drive, an external drive or usb thumb drive.
For those of us who’ve downloaded Windows 7 for the free test drive, we all received the Ultimate version of Windows 7, which has Bitlocker installed on it.
For those of us who will be ‘downgrading’ to Home Premium, we should be able to put Bitlocker on any thumb or external drives now and it should continue to work. I haven’t been able to test this yet, but I have encrypted a thumb drive.
To encrypt a removable drive, insert it into your usb drive and then go to the Start button and type in Bitlocker, then manage bitlocker encryption. It takes several minutes to encrypt the drive, especially if it’s large. You will be prompted to enter and verify a password. It’s very important to save it to a file on your computer or print it out. When finished, then move files, folders, etc. over to the drive.
Now, you’ll want to verify that your data is encrypted. Take it to a different computer and try to access the thumb drive. You should get a notice that a password is needed.
I tried this with my encrypted drive on my daughter’s computer, running Vista (without Bitlocker), and I was able to enter in my password and view the files on it. Microsoft says that you can take the drive to a computer without Bitlocker, running either Vista or Windows 7 and enter your password and view your files. I haven’t tried it on an XP machine. I’ve read reviews of folks using the Beta Win 7 and this feature didn’t work, but it’s working with the RC version of Windows 7.
Bitlocker can be turned off if you decide not to use this feature later on. If you routinely carry thumb drives around with your or customer data, why not take advantage of this free feature. If the drive is lost or left somewhere, at least it won’t be accessible to prying eyes.
HomeGroup Feature in Windows 7
Posted by: | CommentsWindows 7 has a new feature called HomeGroup, which is really another word for home network. Windows 7 has really made it easy to connect to other computers in the same household that are also running Windows 7.
To get started, go to the start>control panel and then click on the Network and Internet section, finally select HomeGroup.
Here’s where you choose what you want to share with other computers on your network.
As you can see from the graphic below, Win 7 makes it easy to share a variety of documents, media and even printers.
Windows assigns your network password to you. It’s viewable by anyone in your network simply by going to the Network And Sharing Center and clicking on ‘show password’. You can keep the one given to you or change it. Write it down or print it out and take it to the next computer on the network and follow the instructions below…
If more users, libraries or printers are added to the network later, follow the instructions below to add them into your HomeGroup.
After you’ve set up sharing on the computers in your network, you’ll want to access them to play music or view documents. Simply go to Windows Explorer and click on the HomeGroup icon and it will expand to show you what is available. Click and enjoy.
I’ve been using HomeGroup just a couple of days now. It seems to be working well. By that, I mean I can click on my Win 7 folder icon and see that my HomeGroup is still in my network. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the new sharing feature in iTunes, but it’s not worked very reliably for our network, so I’m glad we can share our music the Microsoft way.
Windows 7 Review
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s been a week since I installed Windows 7, RC (release candidate), on our Dell Dimension 9100, (circa 2005) computer with 2 GB ram and a spacious hard drive. I thought I’d share my experience as you might find it helpful.
We’d been running XP Home since 2005 and it was fine, but I was ready for a change. I like to do a reformat every year or so just to clean out the cruft. So I backed up my data and got my free Windows 7 RC download and key. I also found this advisor from Microsoft. It’s a quick download and install and will tell you if your system is ready or if you may have compatibility issues. Here are a set of short videos from Microsoft that give you a tour of what you’ll get. If you want really detailed information, i.e. upgrade from Vista, clean install from XP or Vista visit Microsoft TechNet for the hand-holding version.
With XP, you will need to do a clean install – which means you’re reformatting your drive. I thought about using Microsoft’s free Virtual PC software, and run XP and Windows 7, but alas, the wizard said it wasn’t compatible with my machine.
The install was actually pretty quick and painless and when it was finished, I first visited Microsoft Security to get any updates I might need. I was looking at updates and getting my preferences set, anti-virus software downloaded, updating Windows Defender, etc. when I realized that all my drivers had been loaded for me! I had no idea Windows 7 would take care of this tedious and sometimes frustrating chore. This feature/benefit alone makes me recommend doing the upgrade. I think there are a lot of people out there who hesitate doing a reinstall of their OS because of making sure all the drivers are reinstalled.
Any glitches you may ask? Well, unfortunately I had no sound! My era 2005 SigmaTel audio driver had never been updated by Dell, and in my voluminous research, I found out Dell would be the only one to upgrade this driver. I did find (by a tedious search), that there was a Vista version of the SigmaTel driver made for my machine, but after downloading and installing, it didn’t work. Unfortunate, because I had read that if you had a Vista driver, most likely Windows 7 would be able to use it. I spent way too much time researching, looking at forums, etc. I found others with SigmaTel audio issues along with other brands. The Windows 7 techs would say to either contact the manufacturer, or wait until 7 is officially released. That’s the risk you take.
After speaking to Tim, my tech guy, I decided to get a new sound card. I got an Xtreme 5.1/16 bit Sound Card, went to their site, downloaded the Vista driver, and we had sound!
Paul Thurrott, who blogs regularly about Microsoft products and writes Windows books, has a very detailed review on the beta release and is worth a look if you want to delve into the nooks and crannies of changes, upgrades and how to utilize features.
Takeaways
- Easy to download and install. You will need to burn the download to a DVD. Instructions from Adrian Kingsley-Hughes on ZDNet.
- DO think about consequences if something goes wrong. Make an informed and thoughtful choice of what computer to install the RC on—you probably don’t want to put it on your work computer.
- It is all they say – faster, prettier, UAC not as intrusive, what Vista should have been.
- One issue that I haven’t figured out it is that Adobe Flash Player will not stay installed when we’re using the Firefox browser. It continually says we need to install it, which we have many times (and uninstalled it). Still won’t work, so we use IE in those cases. Java works fine with Firefox.
- If your PC and peripherals are newer, compatibility should not be a problem If you do have driver issues, Windows 7, go to Control Panel and look for the new UI called Printers & Devices and run the troubleshooting.
- Just GET IT! Use it free for a year.
Windows 7 – Release Candidate – Use Free for a Year!
Posted by: | CommentsI thought there was a lot of buzz around Vista pre-release, but it’s nothing compared to the Windows 7 chatter. Have you heard that the Windows 7 Release Candidate is available for free download – from now until the end of July, so get your Windows 7 Release Candidate here. If you already have the beta version of Windows 7 on your computer, they strongly urge you to do a clean install; that is to back up your data and reformat your hard drive.
Your copy of the RC (release candidate), will be free for you to use until June of 2010. However, beginning March 1, 2010, your computer will shut down every 2 hours as a ‘friendly reminder’ that time is running out and you’ll need to buy a copy. Pricing details have not been released and rumors are plentiful with the range of free for those who have Vista Ultimate, up to over $300 for the Ultimate flavor of Windows 7.
I’m only hearing good about this version of Windows. It’s more stable, more lightweight, more compatible, faster and consumes less resources than Vista. It runs well on netbooks with the Atom processor and only 1GB of Ram.
The Windows 7 desktop continues using aero – the see-though desktop. Now, there are more colors, more wallpapers and location themes to choose from. They look beautiful. I’ve heard the graphical interface referred to as “Mac-like”. I’m assuming that’s a compliment :0
There are many enhancements and changes, we’ll just talk about three of them.
The Task Bar
With current versions of windows, we’re accustomed to looking down and seeing both an icon and description of what we have open on our desktops. Not so with Windows 7. There is only a graphical representation of each program open and if your task bar fills up the bottom of the screen, then the icons will flow in a row on your desktop. This could bewilder inexperienced users.
RMS (Remote Media Streaming)
A huge change and improvement is a brand new feature called Remote Media Streaming (RMS), To utilize this feature, all computers involved will have to be running Windows 7. Then, using your Windows Live ID, you can access media from any connected computer to the computer you’re in front of. You can be down the hall or out of town. For example, you’re in your office and you decide you want to hear a particular album, but you don’t have it with you or on your computer. Sign in with your ID and instantly access and play the music. Works for videos, movies, etc. Kind of like having a slingbox.
The new ‘Library’ and better search function
Windows 7 introduces the ‘library’ concept. Here’s what it does. You first start with four main components: pictures, videos, documents and music. Then, new folders can be added to your photo library from another computer. The photos themselves will stay on the other machine, but as long as the computer you’re on can access the remote machine, that data can be accessed.
It’s how Windows Media Player works right now with XP or Vista. When you use WMP, it asks if you want to add folders to the player’s library. You can choose folders from an external drive or another computer and WMP groups them all together for you.
For example, say you added folders of videos from two computers and an external hard drive on your computer. Since these folders are in your library, whenever you do a search for a video, the videos from the remote computers and drive will be shown on the computer you’re on and they will be instantly available to you. Nice!
If you’ve installed Windows 7, what has been your experience. Please share.
