Tag: windows vista
October 29, 2008 by
Jason Use an administrator account to reset the password
If you have forgotten your password to a user account, but you or another person can still log on to the administrator account, then you can change it there. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Log on to the administrator account.
2. Click on the Start button and type in lusrmgr.msc into Start Search.
3. Double-click Local Users and Groups, and then click Users.
4. Right-click the account that you want to reset the password for, and then click Set Password.
5. Type in and confirm the new password.
Please note that these steps do not work in Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows Vista Home Premium. Read More»
Posted in Computer | No Comments »
October 23, 2008 by
Jason Many people find that synching a new iPhone with their contact and calendar data from applications like Microsoft Outlook just doesn’t work easily.
Fortunately, there are techniques you can use to make sure that your devices are sharing data smoothly.
If you’re having trouble using iTunes to sync your contact data from Outlook or other sources with your iPhone or iPod Touch, follow these steps to get your data where it needs to be.
Step 1. With your phone connected to your computer, make sure iTunes is running. If necessary, select your phone under the Devices category in iTunes’ left pane.
Step 2. With iTunes’ Summary tab in front, make sure the Options at the bottom are set the way you want them. I like to control which files are moved and when, so I uncheck Automatically sync when this iPhone is connected. I also select Manually manage music and videos. Read More»
Posted in Mac, Office | 1 Comment »
October 22, 2008 by
Jason The Security Development Lifecycle is in no way synonymous with Microsoft’s entire span of efforts designed to bulletproof its software products and consumer environments. An illustrative example of this is the Microsoft Security Assessment Tool 4.0. Built as the evolution of Microsoft Security Risk Self-Assessment Tool (MSRSAT) dating back to 2004 and that of the Microsoft Security Assessment Tool 2.0 dropped in 2006, the Security Assessment Tool 4.0 is a free download which will integrate seamlessly with Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 in order to evaluate the level of risk in an IT infrastructure and provide the necessary best practices data and guidance.
“The tool employs a holistic approach to measuring your security posture by covering topics across people, process, and technology. Findings are coupled with prescriptive guidance and recommended mitigation efforts, including links to more information for additional industry guidance. These resources may assist you in keeping you aware of specific tools and methods that can help change the security posture of your IT environment. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP, windows vista | No Comments »
October 21, 2008 by
Jason
Right now, I am actually looking for some instructions on how to automatically shutdown the computer by using only the built-in components of Windows Vista, without any additional “shutdown computer” applications (oh boy, there are thousands or even billions of those). I am thinking about using Task scheduler in Windows to set up a computer shutdown command in some way. Any other ideas?
I try to always use built-in functions in Windows to do a task before I use “other” software. Using little applications to perform tasks opens the door to bugs and crashes. Most of the times there are built in functions to perform most tasks. Most people just don’t know about or how to use them. Read More»
Posted in windows vista | 2 Comments »
October 19, 2008 by
Jason The Visual Round Trip Analyzer was initially an internal Microsoft tool, which the Redmond company is now offering as a free download. Designed as a webpage performance visualizer and analyzer, according to the software company, Visual Round Trip Analyzer runs on top of Network Monitor 3.2 and is set up to offer a comprehensive perspective over the download of a specific webpage. The Redmond giant indicated that VRTA comes with support for Windows Vista RTM and SP1, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Windows Server 2008.
“The Visual Round Trip Analyzer tool helps web developers and testers visualize the download of their page, identify best practices and changes that improve performance. The Round-Trip between the client and server(s) is the single biggest impact to web page performance - much greater than server response time. VRTA examines the communications protocol, identifying the causes of excessive round-trips, and recommending solutions,” Microsoft informed. Read More»
Posted in Computer | No Comments »
October 14, 2008 by
Jason The pain…
If you’ve invested your hard earned cash on a Creative X-FI sound card and a copy of Vista, you may be feeling a bit underwhelmed right now. Some of your games may be sounding a bit flat and lifeless and you’ll have no doubt felt that sinking feeling when you edit the sound settings in your new game only to find that you can’t enable some of the fancy options. There is a good reason for this and you probably will have been told at great length about it by one of the many passengers on the anti-Microsoft bandwagon.
The Science…
If you’re an experienced PC gamer you’ll no doubt be aware of DirectX and the various functions that make up the DirectX standard, such as DirectDraw, Direct3d and DirectSound and DirectSound3D. You will probably be aware of the hype surrounding Direct3d already, given that it has now reached version 10, but that’s a story for another day. DirectSound is what we are interested in here and it is sadly missing in Vista. XP and DirectX9 featured a “Hardware Abstraction Layer” which was a piece of software that allowed Windows to talk directly to a soundcard such as the X-FI to provide hardware mixing and 3d effects for your games. Without this layer any sound you hear will be mixed using software, rendering much of your shiny new soundcard useless. Read More»
Posted in windows vista | No Comments »
October 14, 2008 by
Jason Network Access Protection is designed to permit a high degree of control over client computers across a network. A critical feature of Windows Server 2008, NAP is now also supported by Windows Vista
RTM and Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3. But deploying NAP is not exactly an effortless task. However, Microsoft is offering the necessary resources to help network administrators, infrastructure specialists and system architects. An illustrative example of this is the Network Access Protection Design Guide available via TechNet.
“The Network Access Protection Design Guide, authored by our very own technical writer and NAP Forum hero Greg Lindsay, is now live! The NAP Design Guide explains the advantages, disadvantages, requirements, recommendations, and design considerations for deploying NAP for the IPsec, 802.1X, VPN, and DHCP enforcement methods. (…) Huge thanks to Greg for his authoring efforts over the last year and to many NAP product team reviewers for helping to ensure that the content is technically accurate and complete,” revealed Joe Davies, NAP Senior Program Manager. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP, windows vista | 1 Comment »
October 12, 2008 by
Jason Microsoft gave computer makers a six-month extension for offering Windows XP on newly-shipped PCs. While this doesn’t impact enterprise IT because volume licensing agreements will allow IT to keep installing Windows XP for many years to come the move is another symbolic nail in Vista’s coffin.
The public reputation of Windows Vista is in shambles, as Microsoft itself tacitly acknowledged in its Mojave ad campaign.
IT departments are largely ignoring Vista. In June (18 months after Vista’s launch), Forrester Research reported that just 8.8% of enterprise PCs worldwide were running Vista. Meanwhile, Microsoft appears to have put Windows 7 on an accelerated schedule that could see it released in 2010. That will provide IT departments with all the justification they need to simply skip Vista and wait to eventually standardize on Windows 7 as the next OS for business.
So how did Vista get left holding the bag?
Let’s look at the five most important reasons why Vista failed. Read More»
Posted in windows vista | 2 Comments »
October 10, 2008 by
Jason
The maturity of the ecosystem of software and hardware products built around Windows Vista contributed not only to the evolution of the operating system’s level of performance, along with Service Pack 1, but also to making irrelevant the vast majority of incompatibility problems which affected the RTM build of the platform. With the introduction of the Windows Vista Compatibility Center, Microsoft revealed that in excess of 9,000 products are fully compatible with the client, including over 5,500 devices and more than 3,500 software programs. In addition to the center, the Redmond company has also made available for download the “Windows Vista Application Compatibility Downloadable List for IT Professionals”.
The resource features a list of approximately 4,000 applications that are either compatible with or certified for Windows Vista. The document is offered under the Open XML file format for Office Excel 2007, but it can be accessed via Office Live Workspace or through OpenOffice.org 3.0.0 in the absence of the Redmond company’s productivity suite. Read More»
Posted in Software, windows vista | 3 Comments »
