Windows Help Program

Windows Vista do not provide WinHlp32.exe which means there is no Windows Help Program as what Microsoft Windows had since Windows 3.1 Operating System. So, user may not be able to view .hlp file in Vista even this help file is for other software. User have to download on their own and install it if they wan to. Is it good or bad?

check this link out:
http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/01/26/windows-help-program-winhlp32exe-is-no-longer-included-with-windows/

There are quite a number of arguments there. Some of them said is good that Microsoft disable this WinHlp32 but some of them against for. What do you think? Do you think you need it? Do you ever bother to open those help??

Tutorial

When you read the title "Tutorial", you may think what kind of tutorial I am going to talk about. The tutorial is "How to open a Windows Vista box?", funny? Yeah, this is funny! Many people said Vista is complicated and the way to open Vista's box is as complicated as way to operate the OS.

For the tutorial you can refer to this link:
http://www.hive.net/Member/blogs/the_wow/archive/2007/02/28/How-to-open-your-Windows-Vista-Box.aspx

They make this tutorial because quite a few people actually asking how to open the Vista's box so that they won't destroy the Vista's box. Vista's box is different from XP which XP do not have a hard cover box and with the box, Vista seems more elegant because some people just proud to have Vista's box.

And friend of mine that just bought a laptop bundled with Vista Home Premium said that he does not get any Vista's disc or box. And the shop where he bought said he only has to restore Vista when want to reinstall back. Big question there! Is it the box so nice until the shop also want to keep it??

Vista for Game

DirectX 10 arrive in the town!! directX 10 included in Vista! make your gaming life more live..

Vista's graphic not only good in the desktop but also game. Beside that, you can connect compatible Xbox 360's controller to your PC. Ask a gamers you may not want to missed this. Vista also bundled with new game inside instead of Windows old game such as, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, Chess Titans in 3D and so on.





And more features are available for parents because not all the games are safe for their children. Parents can enable and disable some games by rating, means for Vista-based games there will be a rating for each games and parents can control certain user will not be able to access the game.





Windows Media Center also allow user to play certain games from the TV that connected to the PC such as, Mahjong titans, Chess titans and others game that supported by Vista. So, everybody can savor the game..


References:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/games.mspx

How to turn off Windows Vista??

Few weeks ago I saw my friend confused when she want to shut down the laptop that she borrowed for friend of her which using Vista Home Basic. Why she had a hard time to shut it down? All OS have shut down button, right??

After that I found out something wrong with Vista. There is a power button but it is use to turn the PC to sleep mode instead of showing the option box and let the users choose whether they want to shut down, standby, hibernate or just log off the user.

So, how you can shut it down?? There is a button which an arrow. When user point the mouse cursor to the arrow, a box will come out and from the box user can choose whether they want to shut the PC or Laptop down, restart, hibernate, and so on. It's quite troublesome for the first time user or user that just upgrade their OS even Vista's predecessors.

Here is a screenshot, what do u think about it? can you find out the shutdown menu if you are the first time user??



Reference:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/775b27fe-83e1-4da1-82ef-e07772f41a8c1033.mspx

Image Source:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/QueryWS/GetOpenContent.aspx?assetID=a4b3260f-35df-4ac8-9f88-0c1e04121deb&DocumentSet=en-US&RenderKey=XML

Multilingual

Hot news!! Before I start the discussion today, I want to share some good news for Vista user! Vista is keep upgrading the feature and the latest is on 22nd of June 2007, user will be able to use SD(Secure Digital) card for their ReadyBoost Memory which I discussed last time and this SD can support up to 8GB!!! So, you can have memory more than 8GB! Amazing? Yeah, Vista is amazing! So, stay up to date..

For some reason sometimes one PC have to serve different kind of users and different kind of language needs. For example in cybercafe, the owner may has to serve different kind of language users, some of them maybe need Chinese version of OS or Japanese and so on. With Windows Vista the owner of the cybercafe can install more than one language to the OS and it will change the language when it logged on to different user or maybe for you that want to learn other language. So, feel the ease of using Vista!

(note: sorry for shorter post. I have to study for my test tomorrow! (:p) )

I will share some wallpaper for you all! (This is just a joke, not mean to offense any party..)



References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUI

Image source:
http://www.villiard.com/images/windows-vista.jpg

Windows SideShow

Sometimes we will feel quite lazy to turn the PC or laptop on to double check our mail, organizer, or just want to show friends of us some pictures when we just shut it down. Actually it's not advised to turn the PC or laptop on before 5 seconds, so users have to wait 5seconds to turn it on and another 20-30 seconds for it to loads and after that just check a mail and turn it off again. Such a wasting of time right? Then you will think why can't your OS just let you read the mail without wasting few minutes time for it to load and shut down again, won't you? I think you should try this awesome feature of Windows Vista, Windows SideShow.

Windows SideShow is a feature in Vista which enable users to read their mail or view some media files. This SideShow actually have a connection with Windows SideBar's gadget that mentioned in the post earlier, SideShow can perform the gadget which managed through the control panel without have to wait for OS to load. This feature not only can be viewed in laptop or PC but also other devices that can connect to it. For instance, phone, photo frame, media remote control and so on. Unfortunately, now limited numbers of product compatible for it but in the future all will compete to support Windows SideShow!

Windows Vista??? "Easier, Safer and Entertained!!!!"
What do you think about it? Cool?

SideShow in photo frame





SideView in Laptop

References:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/sideshow.mspx

Image Sources:
http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/windows/images/products/windowsvista/features/details/sideshowpictureframe.jpg
http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/windows/images/products/windowsvista/features/Asus_W5Fe_closed_angle.jpg

Windows Media Center Extender and Music

Ever faced problem that u can’t find the song in your playlist that reach thousands? Feel lazy to type the song title, singer or even you forget the title or singer? With Windows Vista’s Media Center, it can manage the playlist for you. You can sort it by singer, album, year of production, genre. So it’s easier for you whose songs are thousands.

Besides managing music, of course as a music mania you like to listen to the radio which gives preview about new songs. Media Center also allows you to tune to the radio through the Internet and there are lots of radio stations provided through Internet and of course you can listen to the radio station in your home country when you are away.

The other new feature of Media Center is you can access your computer media data such as images, video or music through your TV that connected wired or wireless to the PC using the remote control. But this feature actually only available for the TV that support connection to Media Center which still limited and costly nowadays.

As usual Vista is meant to make life “Easier, Safer and Entertained..”
That’s all for today, see you..

References:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/mediacenter/default.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/mediacenter/music.mspx

Image source:

http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/windows/images/products/winfamily/mediacenter/music_01.jpg

http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/windows/images/products/winfamily/mediacenter/music_02.jpg

Windows Media Center ( TV&Movie )

TV is very popular nowadays and all the TV’s shows are very interesting. Everybody don’t want to miss the shows, stay late at night only to watch a TV show when the next day they have to go to work or school, some children skip the class just because want to watch TV. Those all can found everywhere and it caused a lot of trouble, anyone knows the solution? No, stop watching is quite impossible for people addicted to the shows. Windows Vista is the solution! There must be a big question mark there, how can an OS solve those problems??

Windows Vista came out with a new version Windows Media Center, this Media Center allow user to pause, record, play and rewind the TV show. The only thing user have to do is plug the TV tuner to the PC and plug the cable from decoder to the TV tuner, that’s all. Easy? Of course, Vista always trying to make the user feel “Easy, Safe and Entertained”. In the Windows Media Center, user can set the time to record from TV channel and playback. So, why you still go to office or class with a sleepy face? Try to use this feature and you will feel the different. No more sleepy in office or class, skip class, and warning letter.

Reference:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/tvandmovies.mspx

Image Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/windows/images/products/windowsvista/features/screenshot_tvmovies_mediacenter.jpg

Parental Lock

"More than one-third of 16- and 17-year-old boys surveyed said they had intentionally visited X-rated sites in the past year. Among girls the same age, 8 percent had done so. Overall, 36 percent had unwanted exposure to online pornography, including some children who had willingly viewed pornography in other instances. The 2005 number was up from 25 percent in a similar survey conducted in 1999 and 2000. "
(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/05/tech/main2431433.shtml)

This survey shows us how the pornography infected the Internet a lot nowadays. Some parents may very worried about they child to surf the Internet while nowadays Internet is needed to find some source for their assignment or even for entertainment. And of course parents can not monitor their children every seconds. Windows Vista come out with the solution for parents who worried about that. New feature in Vista which allow parents to have a parental lock and secure the Internet from the pornography website.

Besides that, parental control also allow parents to lock some applications and set a timer for their children. So, children won't play the computer until late at night or more than the quota given by their parents. Before the time expired, there will be a notification that says they have 15minutes left before the user is log off. So, if let say they doing assignment or playing game, they still have time to save it.

For some youngster, they may not like this feature but it's very useful for parents that worry about the Internet technology. So, for parents out there, why don't you try to use Windows Vista and you will feel safer. That's on of the slogan for Vista.. "Easier, safer and more entertaining"


Time Limit Control



Parental Control Panel



References:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/05/tech/main2431433.shtml
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/parentalcontrols.mspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_controls

Image Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/windows/images/products/windowsvista/features//details/screenshot_time_limits.jpg
http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/windows/images/products/windowsvista/features/details/screenshot_parental_controls_panel.jpg

Windows SideBar

From the title you all can know what is the topic for today right? So today's topic is about Windows SideBar. Maybe some of you all know about this and used before because there are a lot of software that allow users to download and install something like this Windows SideBar.

Windows Sidebar is actually and additional function of Windows Vista that allow users to put some gadget which is small application, for instance, date, time, live search engine, calculator and so on instead of having a window that only have a recycle bin on it. This application is quite new for "Window's Fans" but actually for Mac enthusiasts they may know it as Apple's Dashboard. Beside some standard gadget that build in the Vista, users can download additional gadget from Microsoft for free (http://vista.gallery.microsoft.com/vista/SideBar.aspx?mkt=en-us)). There are hundred of gadget that provided by Microsoft and still updating.

If u feel interested on it and want to try it in your Windows XP u can try http://www.thoosje.com/.

(I will not take any responsible if something happen to your computer)

That's all for the post today. Thanks for spending your time to read my blog and don't forget to leave some comment.. Have a nice day!

References:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/sidebargadgets.mspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista

Image Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/windows/images/products/windowsvista/features/details/screenshot_sidebar.jpg

Network Diagnostics and Troubleshooting

Before I start my discussion about Network Diagnostics and Troubleshooting I want to announce for my blog. Because I got the complaint about the background that make the post hard to be read but finally I found the solution for that, do not put a background! That’s my conclusion for now. Later on if I can find a background that suit to the blog and won’t interfere the user to read the post, I will use the background again.

Ok, so today is the last post for the second week post. Today I’ll talk about “Network Diagnostics and Troubleshooting” in Vista. Few days ago I was fixing my Internet connection, I found it’s quite hard to do the fix it because I don’t know whether I have problem with my router, modem or from ISP itself. After a few hours I just can get online because some of the router configuration I did wrongly. And today after I read article about Vista, there are a new feature in Vista which called as “Network Diagnostics and Troubleshooting”. This feature actually can help user to diagnose the problem with the network. So like for my case that I mentioned just now, Vista can diagnose whether something wrong with the connection from the ISP to the modem or from modem to router or from router to my notebook as well.
Besides a wired network, this feature also can diagnose and troubleshoot for the wireless network as well.

So for conclusion, with Vista everybody can fix simple problem for networking which if users have to call for the networker, user have to spend some money.

ReadyBoost

untitled
Originally uploaded by lee_hins

Using Vista and feel that your computer perform slower? Maybe there is problem with your computer hardware and the main problem usually is the memory. You may have not enough memory space to perform all your computer application that run at same time. As mentioned in my second blog in the Vista's hardware requirement, Vista need 2GB memory (RAM) to run smoothly. Many of users may not have update their computer for some reason, first reason of course the price of memory is not cheap. Users have to spend extra few hundred bucks for the memory which they spent a lot for buying Windows Vista. Second problem of adding another memory is the memory slot that limited. But Vista has predict all that problem and come out with ReadyBoost application which allow users to use USB flash drive to act as temporary memory.

Users only have to buy USB flash drive which nowadays is very cheap. After that without installing something users can use the USB flash drive as their memory.
As usual there will be a autoplay when a plug and play device being plug to the PC, and all that user have to do is click in the ReadyBoost menu and set the setting as they need and ReadyBoost is working. If the users do not use all the space of the flash drive as the ReadyBoost, left space can be use as space to save something. Other way to activate this ReadyBoost is from “My Computer” and right click on the removable icon, there is a ReadyBoost tab menu and users can do the setting from here.


So, think twice if u want to upgrade your computer memory that cost you hundred bucks. Why don't you try this new technology? That's all my post today..

References
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/performance.mspx


(note: this is my second time typing this post cos i forgot to save the previous one while uploading the photo)