I’m always on the look out for good freeware, here’s a pretty current list over at PC World.
101 Undiscovered Freebies: The List – PC World
March 27, 2009
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Windows 7 Touch
March 25, 2009I haven’t bitten the bullet on a touch screen system yet, but I’m definitely intrigued by them. Especially if something like the Eee Top can pull off Windows 7.
I found this Soapbox video of some of the enhanced touch features in Windows 7.
Video: Windows 7 Touch Gestures
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WHS Power Pack 2 – Install
March 25, 2009Power Pack 2 came out the other day, running update on your Windows Home Server will download and install it. Installation requires a reboot of the server. Once installed PP2 includes some enhanced features for sharing media with Vista Media Center and Media Center Extenders, which was my main interest. After rebooting the server, the client computers were notified of the update.
I have a 32 and 64 bit clients. One was set for manual updates which after notification, required me to uninstall the WHS connector and then install the new one. Installation of the new client required me to fill out the defaults, like it was a new install and then reboot.
When I went to the machine that had automatic updates setup, it had already had the WHS connector updated and was waiting for a reboot.
After rebooting there was a new option in the start menu of both machines to install the new WHS Media Center Connector. Installation was straight forward and then required another reboot.
Following the second reboot of the client the Media Center Library had been automatically updated to include the default shared media folders of the WHS. Browsing the library seemed faster as well.
I setup a new Linksys extender and once connected to a Media Center that had the new connector, it also had the WHS media in it’s library by default. One thing I haven’t verified is that the new update does not require you to have the “guest” account turned on the WHS, which was always a beef of mine. In general the install went without a hitch and I would recommend installing it.
You can find out more info at MaximumPC and Microsoft.
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Power Pack 2 Is Here « MS Windows Home Server
March 23, 2009Just announced, Power Pack 2 looks to add some nice media sharing features to Media Center. It should be available on the 24th. I’ll give an update after I try it. In the meantime you can find out more at the link.
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Windows 7 Spills the Beans on Office 14′s 64-bit Support | Maximum PC
March 23, 2009Good news for 64 bit fans, take a read over at Maximum PC for the details, but it looks like Office is finally heading towards native 64 bit. Now we’ll be able to give our favorite “resource hog”, outlook, all the love it needs.
Windows 7 Spills the Beans on Office 14′s 64-bit Support | Maximum PC
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Northwood University’s 50th Anniversary
March 21, 2009My Alma Mater is celebrating their 50th anniversary. If you’re wanting you or your children to have a business education that has plenty of “free-market”, “free-enterprise” spirit, then please take a look. It’s a great school, even if I am a little biased since my parents were co-founders.
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The first Windows Office Suite?
March 21, 2009Digging through my pile of trash, I mean tech memorabilia, I found some manuals that brought back some fond memories, the Palantir “win” series. Remember them? Probably not. Remember Spring Comdex? (yes they used to have 2 a year), how about Windows World?
Anyways, Palantir had one of the first word processors, project management, and database applications for Windows 1.X. Some of the system requirements are: “IBM PC/XT/AT, Compaq, or compatible”, “MS-DOS 2.0 or later”, “512K or memory”.
I was able to still find a PR link from the 1987 Spring Comdex about Palantir.
The graphics on these were “killer”, enjoy.
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DivX on Linksys Extenders
March 21, 2009In my continuing quest to get unified media shared easily around the house (never-ending would probably be a better way to describe this quest). I decided to take another look at my DivX collection and what to do about it.
I started digging into the best way to convert them and there just wasn’t an easy, quick way. And they never looked as good. Even DVDs that I rip, are in DivX, so the problem is ramped. I do have an Acer hooked up to an HD TV via HDMI, and it works, but I seem to be the only one in the family who can get everything setup. In addition, once Media Center is full screen on the secondary screen (TV), you can’t use the mouse on the computer. There’s probably a work around, but who’s got the time.
What I need is an appliance, you know, the promise of Media Center Extenders. Before I started converting everything, I searched one last time. I found the answer! At least for Linksys Extenders, which is what I have.
Chris Lanier’s Blog has an old post, that goes into more detail but suffice it to say that the Linksys extender will play Xvid, which is the same “container” as DivX, just a different header. Officially called FourCC. There is a simple free utility from INMATRIX called The AVI FourCC Code Changer that allows you to change this tag from DivX or Xvid. No conversions, no waiting! You can get it here.
Could it be that easy? Yes! I’ve refreshed all my movies using the utility and I haven’t found one yet that won’t play on the Linksys Extender (DMA 2100). I would highly recommend getting this utility and enjoying your Extender more than ever.
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Refresh Notebook with SSD
March 19, 2009I have an older HP Pavilion DV2000 that is limited to 2 GB. It’s a nice laptop with 2GB and 14.1” screen, but I’ve moved to 64 bit for most my day to day work and it just wasn’t cutting it. It’s not bad to take out for trips and around the house, but it seemed pretty slow, loud fan noise, and would get pretty hot.
I had been reading a lot of good things about SSD SATA II drives and when I caught a 60GB OCZ drive on Amazon for $100 (after rebate), I thought it would be a good opportunity to breath new life into the old laptop. Currently it had a 100 GB drive in it, but I was going to use it as a beefy netbook with Windows 7 on it.
The drive came in nice packaging. There were no cables or CDs.
Removing the drive was pretty straight forward, there were a few screws on the back to remove the cover, and then a few more screws holding down the drive cage.
With the drive cage removed from the laptop, the drive then needed to be removed from the cage. A special connector was on the drive that allowed the SATA connector to seat properly in the laptop. That also had to be removed from the original drive.
Placing the special connector and installing the SSD drive in the cage went without a hitch. All the screw holes and connectors on the SSD drive were the same as a standard 2.5” SATA drive. The cage fit back in the laptop as expected and everything got “buttoned” up.
I grabbed my Windows 7 beta DVD, put it in the DVD drive and booted the machine. At this point the BIOS recognized the new drive with no problems and the Windows 7 installation began. I formatted the drive as part of the install and noticed that it zipped along.
Once the Windows 7 installation was complete (after a reboot) the system started up in seconds. You can find benchmarks on this stuff at other sites, suffice to say this old laptop was screaming now.
I’ve used it quit a bit and noticed that it is much quieter, cooler, and really a joy to use. I’m looking forward to the RC of Windows 7 to see if there are more speed improvements.
Overall I would have to say that this is an excellent way to upgrade a laptop that’s a few years old and give it the shot of adrenalin it needs. Check your favorite sites for deals, but I see them pop up on Newegg, Dealigg, and Amazon every few weeks. For surfing and light work, the 60GB should be plenty.
Now go save some laptops.
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Shuttle X50 Touch Screen
March 19, 2009Looks like Shuttle is coming out with a competitor to the Eee Top. This looks pretty cool, the handle for portability looks a little better than the Eee Top. The handle is also removable and reveals a VESA connector for easy mounting to a wall or under a cabinet. Specs are typical and the price is reportedly around $499 according to MaximumPC.
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