windows

As Microsoft hurries to release the next version of Windows before its (rather tentative) January 2007 release date, a recent announcement by the company has an "upgrade breakdown" for each of its six versions of Vista. The most important part of ... this development is the XP upgrade, which allows certain editions of XP to be supplemented instead of completely replaced by Vista's technology. In short: the five versions of Windows XP, including Windows XP Professional, XP Home, XP Media Center, XP Tablet PC, XP Professional x64, and additionally, Windows 2000, all require *different* installation ... (view more)

Tabby File Tabby File is a minimalist file explorer for Windows without the bloat and obscure features of the more fancy explorer replacements. http://bradlima.com/index.php?page=tabbyFile Advanced Windows Care Personal Advanced WindowsCare v2 ... Personal is a comprehensive PC care tool that takes an integrated approach to help protect, repair and optimize your computer. It provides an One-Click, All-In-One and Super-Fast solution for PC maintenance and protection. http://www.iobit.com/ (view more)

Oh, the irony. In the middle of an industry firestorm launched by Microsoft against software pirates, the tech world's most hardcore investigators have discovered that the Redmond-based company has been using cracked .wav files in its Windows Media ... Player. In its most recent operating system -- XP -- Microsoft is allegedly running hacked music files for its background sound. Microsoft has attracted intense scrutiny in recent weeks over the release of the Windows Genuine Advantage ( WGA ). WGA is Microsoft's pioneer program in the war against software piracy, as it rather forcefully "offers" ... (view more)

One of the scariest parts of Windows is the Windows Registry. You can reduce your Windows computer to a inefficient low wattage heater with a single keystroke if you start playing around in it. This thing is the one area that MUST be approached with ... care. No, I'm not kidding! The registry is important for the smooth and efficient operation of the computer. It tells Windows where, how, what, and when to run. It's cryptic and complicated. And the smallest thing can cause problems so don't mess with it without knowing what you're doing. But, sometimes you have to. If you don't fix registry ... (view more)

Auto Window Manager Auto Window Manager automatically manages any window you specify. For instance, some web browsers open up in a non-maximized window. Using Auto Window Manager, you can set those windows to automatically maximize (minimize, ... normal, minimize to tray, stay on top) every time they opened. It works with almost any program, including web browsers, Notepad, etc. Auto Window Manager stays running in the system tray, so it stays out of your way while it works. Auto Window Manager adds several menu items to standard window menu accessible via application icon in the title bar. The ... (view more)

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you've undoubtedly stumbled across the term "WGA" -- or more affectionately known as, The Windows Genuine Advantage Program. Reminder: What is WGA? Designed as anti-piracy software by ... Microsoft, WGA is an install designed to check the legitimacy of a user's Windows applications and Operating System. Those whose systems are running pirated software are given the chance to purchase legitimate identification keys or prove that they were duped into buying the illegal merchandise. Those who are victims of piracy dealers -- and can ... (view more)

Winspike This is a simple application that runs in the system tray. When you click it's icon, a menu is displayed. Drag a menu option on-top of any window to perform the specified remaking operation on that window. Options are: topmost, non-topmost, ... close window, terminate window, translucent, minimize window, maximize window, show window normal, hide window, enable window, and disable window. There is a feature for viewing window information and you can capture a window to disk as a bitmap. You can specify child windows, and the application can be set to run each time Windows starts. http:// ... (view more)

The Windows Live initiative is a fascinating adventure which I've written about previously and includes many different products: mostly online tools. See: Windows Lives beyond Your Computer in 'Web 2.0' Windows Live: Is it Worth It? Windows Live: Is ... it Worth It?, Part 2 In coming months, we will be seeing familiar things taking on this new name and offer additional features. Spaces at MSN (an entity in the blogging industry) is due to morph into "Live Spaces", and the beloved MSN Messenger will be transforming to "Live Messenger." In this article, I want to overview ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Don B. writes: " Dear Infopackets Team, I have never made a disk image before. My question is: if I make a complete image backup of my C drive (25Gigabytes large), can I then erase my drive and proceed to restore my image backup? ... Or is disk imaging good only for restoring broken files, but not for doing a complete system restore on a clean drive? I guess I'm a bit confused. What I would like to do is wipe out my hard drive completely, then install Windows XP fresh and all the updates and security software, plus a few program essentials (like MS Office). After doing all of ... (view more)

According to the Microsoft Support Lifecycle, Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Service Pack 1a (SP1a) on will reach its end of life on October 10, 2006. This is a significant announcement as this will also end any further security updates for ... anyone using these service packs; subsequently, any computer using SP1 or earlier will be at risk for exploits. (Source: sysadmin.it ) If you are still running SP1 or SP1a, it is recommended that you upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 2 as soon as possible. How to Determine Which Service Pack is Installed on your System To determine which service pack ... (view more)