Sharing in a HomeGroup

In addition to sharing out individual folders, as was possible in previous versions of Windows, HomeGroup also shares out Explorer Libraries

• Explorer libraries aggregate multiple locations on a physical file system, and present them in a logical view.
• Each scope of a library is backed by an network share
• This allows multiple SMB shares to be aggregated into one library location
• Each library is published to the network

Users can browse either shared Explorer libraries or shared folders when browsing a HomeGroup computer, which is exposed in a dedicated node in Explorer labeled as HomeGroup. In the sample screenshot below, we see a user browsing their HomeGroup from a computer named Jeremy-laptop and logged in with the user account Jeremy.

From this screenshot we can see several things:

• Even though HomeGroup is primarily a network technology, it exists as a separate node from the Network node in the Explorer navigation pane.
• The list of computers under the HomeGroup node shows the user that that shared folders and libraries belong to.
• While logged into the local computer (with the computer name Jeremy-laptop) we see that the HomeGroup list in the navigation pane shows both local entries and remote entries. Every user that shares out folders or libraries on the HomeGroup gets a unique entry in the HomeGroup, even if they are on the same computer.
• While viewing the HomeGroup computer we see that the user Jeremy on Jeremy-PC has both libraries (which are a collection of folders) and unique file folders shared out to the HomeGroup. They are all combined into the same view.

Browsing Media in a HomeGroup

Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center are both capable of browsing and consuming media that is shared on the HomeGroup. Windows Media Player will show other HomeGroup PCs under Other Libraries. These other libraries contain the same contents as the explorer library scopes. These scopes are also accessible through compatible UPnP media playback devices like the Xbox 360 and the Roku Soundbridge.

Media Center will show other HomeGroup PCs under the Shared tab.

• Media Center uses the WMP Media Sharing Service for Music, Video and Pictures.
• Recorded TV is enabled by directly accessing the network share \\\public\recorded TV.
• Media Center can play back recorded TV that is not DRM protected from another HomeGroup PC or make a copy for playback while travelling.

Sharing printers in a HomeGroup

When a user shares their printer in the HomeGroup Control Panel, all USB-connected printers that are installed on that local PC are automatically shared:

• If the printer has drivers certified by WHQL (Windows Hardware Quality Lab), the printer will be silently installed on all HomeGroup PCs.
• If the printer does not drivers that have been certified , the printer will display a notification, and also show UI in the HomeGroup control panel, asking the user to elevate to install the printer driver.
  • This notification will only show once in the tray and always show in the control panel until the user has acted on it

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Several programs and features built-in with Windows, like Internet Information Services, must be turned on before they can be used. A variety of other features are turned on by default, but can be turned off if they are not used.

To turn off a feature in earlier versions of Windows, it had to be uninstalled completely from the computer.
In Windows 7, the features remain stored on the hard disk so its easy to be turned back on when needed.

If you turn off a feature in Windows 7, you really does not uninstall the feature, and it also does not reduce the amount of hard disk space used by Windows features.

Follow the steps below to turn Windows features "On" or "Off":

* Click the Start button, go to Control Panel, select Programs, and then click Turn Windows features On or Off. If prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, just type the password or provide confirmation.

*To turn a Windows feature on, select the check box next to the feature. To turn a Windows feature off, clear the check box. Hit OK.


Certain Windows features are grouped together in folders, and some folders include subfolders with extra features. If a check box is partly checked or is dimmed, then a few of the items inside the folder are turned on and some are turned off. To check the contents of the folder, just double-click it.

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If you’re having problems installing CoPilot application on Mini 1010 and 1011 systems, please follow the steps below to resolve it.

1. Insert the Micro SD card in the 1st blank filler (the one with the white sticker).
2. Insert the 1st blank filler in the 2nd blank filler (the one with the red sticker). Please refer to the picture below:



3. Insert the 2nd blank filler in the card reader slot. ]
4. The card will be detected and you will be able to install the software.

You will most likely get confused with the proper installation of the card since the package contains 1 Micro SD card and 2 dummy fillers. The CoPilot application is integrated in the Micro SD card. The Activation License Code is in the business card that is sent along with the SD card.

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DELL recently integrated their Alienware line of laptops to use hybrid graphics technology that enables switching between expansion graphics card (which is basically what is ordered by the customer) when connected to AC Adapter and integrated graphics card when the laptop is on battery power.

This new technology will automatically switch the laptop to integrated graphics when it’s on battery.

If you think that you’re missing the correct graphics card or you have the wrong graphics card installed on your Alienware M17x, try doing the following to turn on your preferred graphics:

1. Connect your laptop to AC power.

2. Hit on 'Fn-F7' key to toggle between integrated and expansion graphics. You may be required to restart the system.

3. Make sure that your BIOS settings are configured to enable hybrid graphics and integrated graphics.

The Alienware M17x uses hybrid graphics technology as a way to conserve power when you’re on battery mode.

When you in the integrated mode (laptop is powered by battery only), the nVidia 9400 graphics will be seen in the Device Manager, system performance will also be less on integrated and some applications and/or games which require intensive graphics solutions will not work.

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Some DELL Studio XPS 1340/13 computers may report over-heating of the battery or shorter battery life.



DELL confirmed that the default preset on XPS 1340/13 has been set to "Dell Recommended" power plan. As a workaround to increase the system battery life, select the system power plan as "Power Saver".

DELL also advised customers experiencing the problem to
download and install the latest NVidia video driver A05 version (R215031.EXE) or above from Dell Support. Upgrading the BIOS to the latest version could also help alleviate the problem.

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DELL released another update regarding reports of their Alienware M17x systems experiencing slow graphic performance when running graphics intensive programs. This is noticed when booting the system on battery power.

DELL explained that on booting the system thru battery power, the integrated graphics card is automatically enabled, disabling the discrete graphics card(s).

The integrated graphics card remains enabled even after AC power is plugged to the system. The system may only show the “Nvidia Geforce 9400M G” graphics card in Device Manager.

System warning message:

“System is operating on battery power. To maximize battery life, the system will operate on Integrated graphics.
If you would like to use discrete graphics, connect the AC adapter. Press to resume, to setup”

The solution to this issue is to enable the discrete graphics by doing the following:

1. Connect the system to AC adapter. Press 'Fn-F7' key to toggle between integrated and discrete graphics.

2. Choose 'Yes' to enable discrete graphics card on the screen prompting 'BinaryGFX' access detected.

3. Reboot system on AC adapter power. Discrete video card(s) will be listed in device manager.

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DELL released a workaround for an ongoing No Video problem with their G2410 or G2210 LED widescreen flat panel monitors. The issue happens when the computers attached to the LED panels resumes from sleep mode. Also, the said symptom is noticed when the monitor is attached to a nVidia graphics card via the DVI port.

DELL confirmed that their G2410 or G2210 LED monitors manufactured on April 15, 2009 or earlier affected of the said issue.

DELL's workaround:
*Connect computer to a VGA connection.
*Download and update the latest version of nVidia graphics driver from Dell Support.

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DELL recently released a work-around for various reports on their Alienware M17x notebooks having issues with the battery not being detected.


DELL instructs to do the following in order to fix the issue:

1. Turn the computer off
2. Remove the AC Adapter and Battery
3. Press the power button to drain the leftover power (the computer is not expected to turn on)
4. Connect back the AC Adapter and Battery
5. Turn the computer on
6. Also remember to try the [Fn] + [F2] key combination to make sure that the battery connection is fully enabled (you will see the battery status in the OSD application).

For more troubleshooting tips on the said issue or to report a similar case, DELL encourages you users to visit their online community.

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If you’ve noticed your MS Outlook being excessively slow or simply just having errors, you might need to probably scan and repair your Personal Folders file for any problems. It’s kind of like a checkdisk for your email.

How to Repair Your PST File

In order to repair your PST file, you’ll need to open the Scanpst.exe utility that’s integrated by default with MS Outlook. The only problem in there is because there’s no shortcut to it so you’ll need to find it in the MS Outlook folder.

To do this, open up Windows Explorer and then browse down to the following folder for MS Outlook 2007:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12

Or one of these folders for MS Outlook 2003 and earlier:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033
C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033


Once you have opened up the utility, you’ll need to find the location of your PST file by clicking the on Browse button. If you don’t know the location, I have included a set of instructions for figuring out the location further down in this article.


Hit the Start button to start the scan.


The scanning process will take awhile and you’ll get a report at the end showing you whether you have errors in the file.


Hit on the Repair button and after it’s completed you’ll finally get the “Repair complete” message.


If you want to know what was actually repaired during the process, you’ll find a text file in the same directory as your PST file named exactly the same as your PST file.


Almost all of the information in the file is a bit cryptic so I’m not sure reading it will help you all that much.


Find Your Outlook PST File Location

If you only have a single PST file created automatically by MS Outlook, there’s a standard location under your user profile directory. Open up MS Explorer window and then paste the text below into the address bar:

%appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook


You should be able to see your PST file in the list; it’s normally named Outlook.pst at least in the later versions of MS Outlook. If you’ve created a new personal folders file, of course it might be in a different location where you’ve chosen to saved it.

Find Location of Outlook PST in Non-Standard Location

Occasionally your PST file will be in a different location for a number of reasons. For example, if you created a second PST you would have saved it somewhere.

If you can open MS Outlook, just right-click on your personal folders location and then select Properties.


Under the properties screen, hit on the Advanced button.


Now you’ll be able to see the location of the file in the Filename field. As a bonus, you can also compress the folders from here (although you shouldn’t compress it until it’s repaired first)


It’s well significant to scan your PST file every so often so you don’t lose data. You definitely should be backing up your files as well.

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Any blinking text on a webpage can be extremely irritating. Here’s how you can disable the annoyance in Firefox.

First, open up Firefox and type about:config in the address bar then press Enter.


If you encounter the void warranty message, just click “I’ll be careful, I promise!” then uncheck the box next to “Show this warning next time” if you choose not to see it again.


In the Filter box, type in or you can just copy and paste the text below. Notice the default value is set to ‘true’.

browser.blink_allowed



Just double click on it in order to toggle the value to ‘false’.


Test It!
To test the changes made, just refresh this page and the following text should not blink anymore. This works on Firefox 3.5.3 however the tweak is also applicable in older versions of Firefox as well.

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Windows 7 and Vista have a built-in functionality in Disk Management to shrink and/or expand partitions. You no longer need any 3rd-party utilities.

To enable this utility, just open up Control Panel and type in partition into the search box. You’ll immediately see this link show up:



Shrink a Partition

To shrink a partition, right-click on the partition that you want to shrink, under the Disk Management screen and choose “Shrink Volume” from the menu.


Under the Shrink dialog, you’ll need to enter the amount you want to shrink the partition by, NOT the new size. For instance, if you need to shrink your 50GB partition by around 10GB so that it will now be around 40GB, just enter 10000 into the box:


Extend a Partition

To extend a partition, just right-click on the partition that you need to extend under Disk Management screen and choose “Extend Volume” from the menu.


On this screen, you can now specify the amount that you need to increase the partition by. In this example, we’re going to extend it back to around 50GB size.

Please note that the extend partition feature only works with contiguous space.

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Perhaps, one of the most annoying thing when you set-up a wireless network is having to remember the pass key (security key) and typing it perfectly correct so you can connect your laptop or netbook to it. Just imagine if you need 2 or more of your portables to connect to a wireless network. Well, Windows 7 may have a pretty convenient solution to this. You can now easily export your wireless settings from one computer to another.

Backing up the wireless networks settings from Windows 7 is easy, and the settings can also be saved to a USB drive. Moreover, you can import the settings on laptops & netbooks running Windows XP, Windows Vista and/or Windows 7.

Saving Your Wireless Network Settings

Open the Network and Sharing Center first. To do this, simply click on the wireless network symbol from the taskbar and choose ‘Open Network and Sharing Center’. Another way to do this is go to Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network and Sharing Center.


Click the ‘Manage wireless networks’ link on the left side of the Network and Sharing Center window.


You will see a list with all wireless networks to which you have connected in previously under the Manage Wireless Networks window. Just double-click on those you prefer.


You will now see a window with all its properties. To save them on a flash drive: Click on the bottom link that says ‘Copy this network profile to a USD flash drive’.


The Copy Network Settings wizard will now begin. Next, insert the USB flash drive and wait until it is detected. The Next button now is no longer grayed out.


It will only take a few seconds to complete the copying process. Just hit on Close when finished.


If you will check your USB flash drive, you will now see a setupSNK.exe file and a SMRTNTKY folder. Don’t delete those files from the memory stick.


Importing Your Wireless Network Settings

Plug in the USB flash drive to the laptop where you need to import the settings and run the setupSNK.exe file. Click on Yes when the Wireless Network Setup Wizard launches.


The settings will now be imported and will complete in a few seconds. Click OK when you get the notification below. You can now start using the wireless network.


This process is very helpful for both public and hidden wireless networks. Instead of typing long and complicated authentication keys, it is much easier to plug in an USB memory stick and just run a setup file. If you have other useful techniques like this one, please don’t hesitate to share them by providing comments here.

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Reports of the Inspiron Desktop 546/546s freezing while playing media have been surfacing recently after the release of the said machine from DELL.

This issues are noticed after unplugging the headphones or speakers from the DELL Inspiron Desktop 546/546s system when media is played using Via VT1708S 5.1 channel High Definition integrated audio controller.

To fix this, follow the steps below:

Uninstall the Audio Driver :

*Click the Start button, then click Control Panel. Double-click the Device Manager icon.

*Click the plus (+) sign next to the Sound, video and game controllers category.

*Right-click the name of the driver to be uninstalled, and then click on Uninstall.

*In the Confirm Device Uninstall window, click to check 'Delete the driver software for this device' and then click OK.

*Download and install the latest audio driver A01 version (R219774.EXE).

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Windows Vista’s new indexing service has been the subject of a lot of complaints because it appears to kick in at strange times and thrash your hard drive. Is there anything that we can do to speed this up?

There are actually two options: You can trim down the amount of files that Windows Search is indexing and/or you can disable it entirely if you don’t use the search.


Trimming Down Indexing Locations

The most excellent way to trim down the amount of processor time used by the indexing service is by trimming down the amount of files being indexed. For example, if you don’t regularly search through your C: drive, you don’t really need to be indexing it.

I personally like the search function for Outlook and the Start Menu, but that’s the only places I’m concerned about indexing.

Try typing “Indexing” (without the quotations) into the Control Panel Search or the Start Menu search box and you will see an item called Indexing Options.


You can see here the existing list of locations that are being indexed. For example, I only index the Start Menu and my Outlook. If you need to modify or remove locations, just use the Modify button.


What you need to do to remove a location from being indexed is to uncheck the box. You might need to click the Show All Locations button to also see some of the default locations.


If you need to remove the Start Menu indexing, you would need to click on Start Menu in the summary list at the bottom. This will automatically navigate to the item in the tree.


The Start Menu indexing doesn’t really take much processing time so I really wouldn’t bother removing that.

Disable Indexing Completely

If you prefer to completely disable the indexing service, disable it entirely by just turning off the service.

To do this, just go to Control Panel and open-up Services or another way to do this is by typing services.msc into the Start Menu search box. Look for “Windows Search” in the list of services and just double-click on it to open.


Now change the Startup type of the service to Disabled and then click the Stop button to stop the service.


Windows Search service is now completely disabled.

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The Routing table instructs where all packets go the moment they leave your system. On majority of environments, all packets that leave your system will automatically be forwarded over to your router or hub, and subsequently from there out to the internet.

In a number of circumstances, you may have a testing network set up to duplicate another environment, or you may be setting up a more complex network topology that requires the use of additional routes. Adding routes to your computer is practically a useful testing tool for some of these instances.

Syntax:

route ADD xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx MASK xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Means:

route ADD “network” MASK “subnet mask” “gateway ip”

For instance, if you were on the 192.168.1.0 network, and you had a gateway on 192.168.1.12 set up to access the 10.10.10.0/24 network, you would need to use a route add statement like this:

route ADD 10.10.10.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.12

Your routing table should be able to reflect that change so all traffic to the 10.10.10.x range will now be sent over to the gateway machine.

The route add set up will only stick across reboots if you add it with the -p flag, like in the following:

route -p ADD 10.10.10.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.12

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If you need to create batch files to automate cleanup on your computer, you’ll definitely need to include at least one of these commands in your batch script. You can automate any of the functions on the Internet Explorer 7 Delete Browsing History dialog.

This is the dialog that you probably used to see:



And below are the commands that correspond to the different buttons. The most important, on a cleanup perspective, is the first, which will delete the temporary internet files that are cluttering up in your computer.

To run these commands, you can just type them from the command line, the Start Menu search box in Vista, or a batch file.

Temporary Internet Files
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 8

Cookies
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 2

History
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 1

Form Data
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 16

Passwords
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 32

Delete All
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 255

Delete All – “Also delete files and settings stored by add-ons”
RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 4351

These commands also work in Internet Explorer 7 on XP or on Windows Vista.

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Flash News: AT&T posted a new version of Navigator, the version 1.2i.5: this should the correct the problem, and update properly.

A lot of users of the $10-a-month AT&T Navigator iPhone app have been complaining of a little problem. The periodic crashes of the app every time it calculates directions. Not to worry, the problem is easy to fix. Stop blaming yourself for doing something wrong.

“There is a software glitch. It’s our issue, not Apple’s,” confirmed by Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman.


The problem occurs in an indefinite number of phones when people use the update button to get the most recent copy of AT&T Navigator.

This is the easy fix:

Remove first your current copy. You won’t lose your contacts or any other information so don’t worry.

In order to remove it, hold your finger on the icon of the AT&T Navigator on the phone’s home screen until all of the icons wiggle around. You will see a white X in a circle on the upper left corner of all of the application icons. Touch the X on the AT&T icon, and then press “yes” when it asks you if you are sure you want to remove it. Then press the phone’s home button to stop the other icons from dancing.

Next, go to the App Store to download a fresh copy. The application is free. You will need to re-enter your name, e-mail address and pin number to get all of your stored data.

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Perhaps the most frustrating and aggravating things about troubleshooting random BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) errors is that the computer reboots before you even have a chance to take note of the error messages so you can google them up later. I can still remember watching a friend trying his luck so he could snap a picture of the error with his camera before the PC rebooted.

Instead of doing that, we just need to turn off the automatic reboot option and force the BSOD or the blue screen to stay there.
Right-click on the Computer icon and select Properties. If you’re a Windows Vista user, you will be taken to the System Properties screen. Click on Advanced system settings.


The Advanced tab should already be chosen. Click the Settings button under “Startup and Recovery”.


Now uncheck the option for Automatically restart under the System failure section.


The next time you get a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), you’ll be able to see it and write down the error message. Just manually reboot the computer after you’re done writing down the BSOD error.

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Windows Vista has a built-in support for Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives however, it does not automatically enable the advanced write caching features. You can actually speed-up your PC by enabling this mode from Device Manager.

To go quickly to Device Manager, just type “device” into the Start Menu search box. Or another way for accessing it is typing “devmgmt.msc” from the command line.

Open up the Disk drives section of the tree by clicking on the plus (+) sign next to it. Right-click on your hard drive and choose Properties.



Choose the Policies tab. You should be able to see this dialog:


Click on the checkbox for Enable advanced performance and you are done!

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