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Find new ways in fixing Windows problems with Microsoft Fix it

Sheiky — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:32:04 +0000

I know how Tech Support Techies work hard in troubleshooting various windows and security related problems on a daily basis. For helping us, various vendors are coming up with certain tools to make the job little bit easier. Microsoft, a Technology Giant will always find new ways in exploring and bringing up new tools and resources to help users to fix their own problems in Windows.

Microsoft Fix it is an online automated troubleshooting solution to diagnose common windows problems in Vista SP2 and XP SP3. It doesn’t support the latest Windows 7 and Server side OS, they came with automated troubleshooting by default when something goes wrong.

Fix It fixes common system problems like CD/DVD read/write errors, printing errors, problems with sound devices, maintenance and performance issues. This step from Microsoft is to automate manual steps in KB Articles so it will easy for the end-user and the troubleshooting expert to fix problems quickly.

This Automated Troubleshooting services will scan the PC and find out the causes of the problems and automatically fixes it. If the problem isn’t fixed it also provide other resources to fix it.

You can find some common resolved issues here for all products and also try Fix it in the Vista Sidebar Gadget too.

2 Easy ways of Administering and Customizing Windows 7 via God Mode

Sheiky — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:40:39 +0000

What is God Mode: Its a simple hack which is hidden in Windows 7 & Vista where you can easily access almost all the control settings for customizing and administer the operating system in one place. Its just a folder where you can find all the shortcuts to every settings change in Windows 7 and Vista. All the tools shortcuts are dumped in one location for easy access. Its like a Control Panel’s Big Boss.

How to access God Mode in 2 simple ways:

1. Create a new folder and rename it as below

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

You can see the icon changed similar to a control panel, double-click to open it and access all the settings in one store.

2. Download the portable tool created by Windows Club and access the same settings in God Mode.

Windows 7 God Mode Creator

Even though it works good for Vista machines too, it is advisable not to create it in Vista 64-bit OS as it crashes the Windows.

Tweak and Control your User Account Control Settings using 3 Killer Apps

Sheiky — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:03:50 +0000

User Account Control is a feature in Windows Vista that can prevent unauthorized changes to your computer. It will ask for Administrator permission whenever some settings are to be changed. By verifying this actions UAC prevent malicious programs from installing it. Microsoft recommends strongly NOT to disable it or else you have to risk your computer to unauthorized changes by viruses and malwares.

For people who think the message pop-ups from UAC is annoying we got awesome applications where you can tweak UAC to run it quietly in the background. Is the "quiet" mode of UAC less secure?

1. UACcontroller

This standalone tool has the option to choose quiet mode where the UAC will be enabled without the Administrator approval prompt. This free UAC tweaking tool will also has options to disable and enable UAC without the option of touching the registry.

2. TweakUAC

TweakUAC is also a portable tool which allow users to switch UAC to a quiet mode, in which you will be elevated to administrator privilege, which means that the UAC prompts pops will be suppressed. This is ideal when you are up to perform an administrator task such as computer maintenance, un-installation of programs, etc. No installation is required to work with TweakUAC.

3. Norton UAC Tool

Norton UAC tool replaces only parts of the Windows Vista’s standard UAC, it continues to utilize the standard security features with more informative interface. This tool also recommends any action of a pop up based on an assessment of your actions which was impossible in the default standard UAC.

Screenshots of the above 3 apps are given below:

UACController Screenshot

Tweak UAC Screenshot

Norton UAC Tool Screenshot

Update all your software’s using FileHippo Update Checker

Sheiky — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:14:35 +0000

FileHippo Update Checker is a useful utility from FileHippo.com where it does the three things below:

1. Scan your Computer for Installed Programs

2. Check the version of the program for ay new releases by sending the information to their FileHippo server.

3. Display the result in your default browser with the download option to update the software.

It will help us in finding the updates quickly rather than going to the particular software’s website to find the updates. Though it will not check all the software’s in your windows, still its a must have tool in each PC for analyzing the updates for all the freeware’s and shareware’s in our PC.

In addition to finding all the updates for your software’s it also list the Beta Updates you may try in your testing environment. You can also disable this feature if you don’t want to install any Beta versions.

This Software works on any Windows OS but it requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 to be installed. You can download and install the Latest Build or download the Portable Version without the need for installation.

Here are the screenshots of the Update Checker:

Windows Update will be upgrading itself in August 2009

Windows Update will be upgrading itself in August 2009

Sheiky — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:45:26 +0000

In August 2009, Microsoft will be releasing an upgrade to windows update infrastructure. This refresh will have an impact on both Microsoft update and Windows update services. This upgrade will not be limited to the infrastructure itself but will also affect the client-side code of windows update and automatic updates.

Microsoft said that it will start the infrastructure update in late August and will take 2 months to complete it. Services updates and Windows core code updates are to be updated time to time to improve the service quality and reliability. As per MU Product Team Blog, you will not experience any settings changes or the look and feel of Automatic Updates but you will see the improvement in user interface, more visible and detailed description of updates.

The MU team further stated that the Windows Update or Automatic Updates client Software must be updated for enabling the software to successfully check for the updates. If WU or AU is enabled then the infrastructure update will be downloaded and installed automatically.

Caution: Please make sure you keep your windows up-to-date by enabling Automatic Update Feature. Always install the latest updates to enhance your computer’s security and performance.