Windows XP
Some Windows 7 versions allow virtualized XP
Microsoft has revealed that Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate versions will come with the ability to run Windows XP in a virtual mode:
Windows XP Mode is specifically designed to help small businesses move to Windows 7. Windows XP Mode provides you with the flexibility to run many older productivity applications on a Windows 7 [...]
Quick way to configure Windows user accounts
If you want to add/modify a user account or change a user password in Windows, you can go the long way through Control Panel or you can take a shortcut. In Windows XP, go to Start-Run and enter
control userpasswords2
In Windows Vista, enter the same command in Start Search.
Windows not so “Genuine Advantage”
I’ve been complaining for a long time about Microsoft’s anti-piracy measures that go under the oxymoronic name “Windows Genuine Advantage” (WGA). In addition to continually harassing legitimate purchasers of Windows software, WGA is considered by many to contribute to security problems on the Internet. At ZDNet, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has a post, It’s time for Microsoft [...]
Stop Windows XP update reboot nagging
We just went through the monthly Windows update process and I was reminded of something that annoys many PC users who use automatic update. After the update patches are installed, Windows wants to reboot and in XP will keep nagging you every 10 minutes until you do. You can tell it to reboot later but [...]
Today is Windows patch Tuesday
Today is the regular monthly patch day for Windows and other Microsoft programs. This month brings an especially large bunch of security fixes. Some of the security holes being patched are already being exploited so be sure to apply all the critical and important patches. At ZDNet, Ryan Naraine reports:
Microsoft’s April batch of security patches [...]
Automatic distribution of IE8 to begin
Microsoft has announced that it will begin pushing out Internet Explorer 8 through automatic update:
Starting on or about the third week of April, users still running IE6 or IE7 on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008 will get will get a notification through Automatic Update about IE8. This rollout will [...]
The end of support for Windows XP?
You may have read reports that Windows XP will lose support from Microsoft on April 14. For several reasons, that is misleading. It is true that one type of Microsoft support will end. However, it is the type of support that concerns business users much more than the home user. Security patches and their support [...]
What does Windows System Restore do?
Microsoft’s opaqueness about many aspects of Windows is sometimes puzzling. I suppose the near-secrecy about technical things like the details of the Registry is because Microsoft doesn’t want anybody to mess with it. But I can’t figure out why the descriptions of useful functions like System Restore are so vague. Without more information, far [...]
Speed up disk cleanup
. I posted previously:
Windows XP comes with a useful utility called Disk Cleanup that helps to keep unnecessary temporary files from accumulating. (I discuss the details of using this utility at this link.) However, systems with NTFS disks often run into a problem with the utility being very slow or hanging for a long time. [...]
Microsoft update for Windows Autorun
I have posted several times about the Conficker worm infection using Windows Autorun. Microsoft has now issued an update for some of the older versions of Windows. Vista had already been patched.
Change Windows automatic reboot
In many Windows PCs, the default setting is to automatically reboot after a system crash. That is not always convenient since you may want to try to decipher the error message on a Blue Screen of Death. Or sometimes, the automatic reboot may get you into an endless cycle of crashing and rebooting. Therefore, you [...]
