Tech Weekly

Windows Vista SP1 is almost out but there will be some problems. Some security programs such as Zone Alarm Suite 7.1, Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 and BitDefender 1.0 will be blocked from even starting up once you install Windows Vista SP1.

There is also at this point a problem with Windows Vista machines going into an endless cycle of boots and reboots. The fix is to remove a previous update #KB937287 prior to installing the Vista SP1. Another problem that we are seeing is that if your PC has drivers that are having conflicts with Vista then once you have chosen to download the SP1 it will refuse to install. And currently when it is pushed out to subscribers of the auto upgrade feature it will not be downloaded to those with PC's that have driver conflicts.

Now I hope that by the time this Service Pack is available to the mainstream that these glitches have been addressed and worked out. Currently the date this will occur that I am seeing is mid-April, but if anyone has fresher info on this please let me know so that I can update my release calendar that I have on my web site.

For additional information on other programs that will be effected or blocked by the install of Windows Vista SP1 please see MS help and support document KB935796.

Labels: Microsoft Weekend Minute, Vista

Any time that I have to do a re-install of Windows XP one of the major slowdowns that I face is making sure that I am able to locate all the drivers that I need to make everything work correctly. For instance for one of my motherboards require at least 4 separate drivers to be installed in order for the Ethernet, north bridge and sound card to name a few to be able to work.

Well with today's Freeware pick DriverMax you can make a copy of all your necessary drivers which you can then have for easy install if you have to restore or re-install your complete operating system. Here are some of the highlights of this freeware program.

Found on:Freewaregenius

Labels: Freeware Friday

This Web Wednesday I am going to write about an option that I was not even aware existed until yesterday. Even though I have registered my domain name "Tech-Weekly" and run a simple tech web page currently I still rely on Google's Blogger to host my site.

And one of the biggest gripes that I have had for awhile is that you cannot do any type of future posting via Blogger. I had to resort to using a service called Lettermelater.com which is a pre-email service. And by using this service and the option to post to your Blogger page via email I have been able to write my posts early and then set them to email from Lettermelater.com. This works okay but it is a lot of extra steps and if you make a little glitch in copying your HTML code over to be emailed then it does not post correctly. Also doing it this way does not allow for adding any labels to your post so if you want to keep the information of your site grouped together correctly you have to go back after the post and add them.

So I stumbled across Blogger in draft, from a posting on their blog post when I was looking for something else and the first thing I see in their most resent post is that by using Blogger in draft instead of your normal Blogger login you have access to many different services or choices that are I guess in the Beta stage. First among the the ability to choose a future post date and time for your posting. I have tried it and it works great.

Simply choose the date and time at the bottom of your post after you have clicked the down arrow for "Post Options" and that is it. Other things that you can do from this login vs. the other are as follows:

Blog List

Blogger as OpenID provider

Subscription Links

Enclosures and Video Podcasting

Just to name a few. So if you are a user of Blogger give it a try and let me know what you think. Also I have not yet figured out how to tie Blogger in draft to be able to post from Windows Live Writer. Any suggestions on how to do that would be greatly appreciated.

Labels: Web Wednesday

Ever have your desktop full of open windows and not want to mess with going to the "Start" button to open you "My Computer" to access something or eve want to mess with going to your desktop to get to the "My Computer" button. Say you have several hard drives or partitions and you need to quickly open something on one of them or like in my case I like to have a quick way to jump to the files on my thumb drive to either check if I have something there before proceeding or to open a folder really quickly.

This handy little tweak is great for acomplishing this. All you have to do in order to make this happen is make sure that your "Taskbar" is unlocked. To do this you will need to right click on a blank spot on your "Taskbar" and un-check mark the "Lock Taskbar" choice. Once you have done that then you can add "My Computer" as a toolbar right clicking the "Taskbar" space and going up to "Toolbars" and then to the right or left to pick "New Toolbar" as seen below.

From there you will see "New Toolbar" tree menu. In this instance you will want to choose "My Computer". Once you do that your "Taskbar" should look like the first picture above with a tree view from "My Computer". You can do this with any folder or file on your computer to make a "Toolbar".

Labels: Tweak Tuesdays

Even though when you go to their webpage it says that this is a BETA version. It is a very solid application. Here how it works, instead of a complicated remote desktop application like PcAnywhere or even the easier to use Logmein. This program installs on any PC that you want to be able to access from any other PC on the Internet. For instance right now I have my PC at home installed with it and also my PC at work. What is nice about this program is that it is not only helpful for you, but say you have several family members that have a lot of pictures or even data files that you want to share with them. All you have to do is have everyone join in and decide whether they want to share their whole computer or only say a "Photo's file" in there my documents.

And what is really handy with this application is the "Syncing" function. You can for example have everyone in the family share one file named the same then set them all up to "Sync" regularly. That way every time anyone adds a photo to their file everyone will have it shortly there after.

I have found the "Syncing" function especially handy in keeping my feeds all the same for Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) between multiple computers. The Feed reader that comes with IE7 is nice but that was a real drawback in not being able to keep track of which feeds that you have already read from computer to computer.

One final thing that I like about this application is that it is friendly with my companies Corporate Firewall. I was able to install and use this application even with the security on the Firewall cranked way down.

Here is what the Microsoft Beta site mentions about this application:

Sync Files • Sync your playlists • Share Outlook® folders • No more uploading and downloading to a server • Sync your Internet bookmarks • Find the presentation on your home computer • Never email large files again • Share home movies with friends • Sync your databases • Keep financial data in sync on multiple computers • Collaborate on documents with people thousands of miles away • Work as you work • Create your own peer to peer network • Share anything with anyone • Share your podcasts • Backup your files • Remotely download your files from any web browser • Synchronize RSS news • Secure file transfers • Send and receive large files • Play music from your home computer at your office • Securely share files with encrypted transfers • Sync Trillian between computers • Sync your Desktop • Sync My Documents • Share your digital photos • Collaborate with developers on code in real time • Instant "VPN" • Home office communication and collaboration

Labels: Editorial, IE, Mobile Monday's