Tag: Microsoft
Desktops 1.0 from Sysinternals is designed to kick the flexibility of the Windows desktop up a notch. The solution to an overcrowded working space has always been simple, and Microsoft is by no means reinventing the wheel. What the Sysinternals utility will do, is allow the end users to stretch across no less than four desktops, delivering much precious real estate area. Users will subsequently be able to jump between desktops using either keyboard shortcuts or the tray icon.
“Desktops allows you to organize your applications on up to four virtual desktops. Read email on one, browse the web on the second, and do work in your productivity software on the third, without the clutter of the windows you’re not using. After you configure hotkeys for switching desktops, you can create and switch desktops either by clicking on the tray icon to open a desktop preview and switching window, or by using the hotkeys,” reads the tool’s description.
Of course that Desktops 1.0 can be downloaded to the desktop and integrated with the operating system. Or it can be run remotely via Live.Sysinternals.com. The tool will integrate seamlessly with both Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3. In addition to Desktops 1.0, which went live on August 21, Microsoft has also updated AutoRuns for Windows which has now reached version 9.33. Read More»
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August 2008 has been synonymous with three separate releases of DirectX for a variety of Windows operating systems. The DirectX refreshes are tailored to Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1, but also to Windows Server 2003.
Microsoft made available for download updated versions of the DirectX Software Development Kit, the DirectX End-User Runtimes, as well as the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer. The first two releases have been re-published on the Microsoft Download Center on August 18, 2008, while the last one is available in the same form as when it went live on August 8.
DirectX End-User Runtimes (August 2008) “provides the DirectX end-user multi-languaged redistributable that developers can include with their product. The redistributable license agreement covers the terms under which developers may use the Redistributable. This package is localized into Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Swedish, and English. [...] The DirectX redist installation includes all the latest and previous released DirectX runtime. This includes the bi-monthly D3DX, XInput, and Managed DirectX components,” Microsoft informed. Read More»
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The page file is a dedicated spot reserved on your hard drive that the computer refers back to when it needs extra memory for programs and applications. Page file, or virtual memory is the slowest component of the memory process, because your computer has to call to the hard drive to access the page file. By optimizing your page file you can speed up Windows’ responsiveness and performance.
Defragmenting The Page File
Defragmenting your hard drive is recommended by everyone, but what about your page file? Your page file too, like the hard drive, can get cluttered and fragmented so it’s important to make sure your page file is defragmented for optimum for performance.
There are two main methods for defragmenting your page file: Installing a page file defragmenting software, or disabling the page file then running the Windows Disk Defragmenter. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP | 3 Comments »
Windows Vista, both the RTM and Service Pack 1 versions, can lose installed drivers in scenarios in which the computer is started via the Last Known Good Configuration feature. According to Microsoft not only Vista RTM/SP1 is affected, but also Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1. Machines booted with the Last Known Good Configuration feature can have some .inf files removed from the %windir%\inf folder. In this context, the operating systems will also lose the installed drivers associated with the .inf files.
“These .inf files correspond to the drivers that are included with Windows. If you try to install a new device that uses an .inf file that has been deleted, you may receive an error message that resembles the following: “Driver not found.” If you try to reinstall the same version of driver that was originally serviced, the devices that use that .inf file may not work correctly,” Microsoft informed.
The Redmond company is offering no less than five updates designed to tackle these specific issues. The releases have been available for download since the end of the past week, and are tailored to both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Vista RTM/SP1, but also to the x86, x64 and Itanium-based Systems variants of Windows Server 2008. The updates will bring the platforms out of the inconsistent status generated by starting the computer with the Last Known Good Configuration feature. Read More»
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1. DirectX 10. Without a doubt, Vista’s support for DirectX 10 is the primary reason why gaming in the Windows environment will transcend gamers’ wildest dreams and far exceed the visual quality of even the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. “When DX10 games come out, the end result will be a significant increase in visual fidelity,” said Microsoft’s Donahue.
This means a marked increase in the number of objects and/or characters on the screen at a time, as well as dramatic impact on the level of background detail trees, water, stars in outdoor and indoor environments. It also means, for example, that characters’ clothing and fur will flap in the wind. Based on the early gameplay screenshots released for DX10 games such as Crysis, the impact of this new version of DirectX is quite clear even at a glance. (See the comparative scenes from Age of Conan: The Hyborian Adventures below.)
This increase in graphical quality is the result of a number of enhancements in DirectX 10 code, operations and resulting capabilities. As an example, a brand-new shader model (Version 4.0) in DX10 allows for more detailed and nuanced 3-D graphics. Read More»
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When you combine Windows XP and Windows Vista PCs on the same peer-to-peer network, such as you might have at home or a small office, you may run into all kinds of problems. It may be difficult for your Windows Vista PCs to find your Windows XP PCs, and vice versa.
And the Windows Vista Network Map which may be the best networking feature Microsoft has ever introduced into Windows won’t work properly with XP PCs. They won’t show up properly on the network map, if they even show up at all.
Fixing workgroup woes
The first problem is that the default name for your workgroup on the network has been changed from Windows XP to Windows Vista. In Windows XP, the default name for the network is Mshome; in Windows Vista, it is Workgroup.
The fix for this problem is easy; you can change the name of the workgroup on Windows XP to match the name of your Windows Vista network. On Windows XP, right-click My Computer, click the Computer Name tab, then click Change. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP, windows vista | 3 Comments »
Microsoft has warned end users that performing Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 upgrades from copies of XP SP2 and Vista RTM, respectively, that have Onekey Recovery 5.0 installed will cause the operating systems to display a black screen following reboot. According to the Redmond company, the issue is generated by an incompatibility between the two service pack releases and Saming OneKey recovery software driver Safnt.sys.
This means that deploying SP1 on top of Vista RTM, or SP3 on top of XP SP2, with Onekey Recovery 5.0 also installed, will result in a black screen of death. Microsoft revealed that this scenario would happen whether the service pack upgrade is performed from Windows Update or through any other method. “This issue occurs when the computer contains Onekey recovery software that is earlier than version 5.1. If the computer uses the Onekey recovery software version 5.1 or later versions, this issue does not occur,” the company revealed, explaining that “Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP2 are incompatible with Onekey Recovery 5.0.” Read More»
Posted in Windows XP, windows vista | 3 Comments »
Microsoft has already indicated through the voice of Anantha Kancherla, manager of Windows desktop and graphics technologies, that DirectX 11 would be at the vanguard of the upcoming general purpose graphics processing (GPGPU) revolution. However, the real details have only been shared with developers and not the general public. From the recent Microsoft GameFest 2008 conference, details related to the evolution of DirectX 11 managed to slip through, but of course not through the company’s official channels, which are keeping mum in relation to the next generation of its graphics technology. Ignacio Castaño, NVIDIA Technology Developer, indicated that end users are in for a treat via the Tessellation of Displaced Subdivision Surfaces in DX11 presentation.
The Tessellation enhancements cooking for DirectX 11 will enable developers to offer what Castaño referred to as “unprecedented visuals”, namely “highly detailed characters and realistic animation”. But of course there is more to it, in the line of performing “expensive computations at lower frequency: realistic animation: blend shapes, morph targets, etc. and physics, collision detection, soft body dynamics, etc.”. DirectX 11 will ensure that the users will benefit from an increased level of detail while fewer resources will be consumed because of compression features. Read More»
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Speed Launch is an application designed to deliver a breath of fresh air to the process of launching mundane and repetitive tasks in Windows, offering a high level of flexibility in comparison to what is available by default with the operating system. The product of a collaboration between Matt Dyor, a patent attorney working with Microsoft’s Server and Tools Business, and David Craig, a support escalation engineer with Microsoft Office Delta Force team, Speed Launch will centralize all the shortcuts thrown at it (actually dragged and dropped), and will classify and then launch them in accordance with keywords that the end users will set up.
“Speed Launch lets you open anything you use frequently in seconds. Just take the “thing” (document, program, or website), drop it on the bull’s eye, and then give it a name that appeals to you. To open it any time later hit “Windows Key + C” and the launch window will open. You just type the name and hit enter. It’s that simple,” Dyor stated. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP, windows vista | 1 Comment »
Deploying Service Pack 3 directly on top of a fresh installation of Windows XP Service Pack 2 will kill all subsequent updates from Microsoft’s servers. The Redmond giant warned that integrating SP3 into the operating system straight after performing a new installation of XP SP2 via Windows Update will result in the failed implementation of any additional releases from Windows Update, Microsoft Update or through Automatic Updates. In this context, installing the third and last service pack for Windows XP onto a freshly-deployed copy of XP SP2 will virtually cut off the operating system from the life-line represented by the company’s updates, served either through WU, MU or AU.
“This problem occurs when the latest Windows Update client has been installed and then you install Windows XP SP3 before restarting the computer. This causes the new Wups2.dll file not to be enabled (registered). When Windows XP SP3 is installed, it does not detect the Wups2.dll file, and it sets the registry to point to the original Wups.dll file version that is included in Windows XP SP2 and Windows XP SP3. Because the registry files that correspond to the Wups2.dll file are missing, update installations are unsuccessful,” Microsoft indicated. Read More»
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