regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll
regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll

And if you decide that you need to re-enable image and media preview, use these commands:

regsvr32 shimgvw.dll
regsvr32 shmedia.dll

The solution was to disable the AVG  link scanner module. Once this link scanner is disabled the ‘Connecting’ hang has gone.

If you have come from Microsoft XP though, the upgrade path is a little harder, but undeniably worth the effort to Learn Windows 7.

In this case, I’d suggest getting a copy ofthe Winstructor Windows Vista Training Videos and learning that first, at least until the Windows 7 Videos arrive, then move on and learn Windows 7.

Either way, whether you’re moving from Microsoft Windows XP or Vista. to Windows 7, learning Windows 7 is going to be a cool and satisfying process. Windows 7 is a great new Operating System, full of pleasant surprises and I’d thoroughly advocate taking the plunge and buying it once it’s released.

All the best with Learning Windows 7.

Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.

1. 1. If Windows automatically detects the CD-ROM, click Install Windows to start the Windows XP Setup Wizard. If Windows does not automatically detect the CD-ROM, click Start, click Run, type CD-ROM drive letter:\setup.exe, and then click OK.
   2. Press ENTER.
   3. Click New Installation, and then click Next.
   4. Follow the instructions on your screen.
2. When you receive the “Press F6 to load SCSI/Raid Drivers” prompt, press F7 to bypass Advanced Configuration and PowerInterface (ACPI) detection.
3. Finish the installation of Windows XP.

The first solution: Synchronize the Network Drive.

Right click on the network drive you wish to include to a library and select “Always Available Offline”. This will start the synchronization process. The downside is that this method will copy all of the data on that drive to your local machine. Not a good option really since it means doubling up on the remote data and copying all of it to your local computer.

The second solution: use mklink to create a link to the remote network drive.

1. Create a temporary folder on your hard drive: eg. c:\stuff

2. Create another folder in the above folder. i.e. c:\stuff\data

3. Link the Library to this folder.

4. Delete the folder (c:\stuff\data).

5. Use the mklink command in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e -

mklink /d c:\stuff\data \\server\data

6. The process is complete. Now you have a non-indexed network path as a library. Very cool.

If you like the command line then you can use these steps:

1. diskpart
2. select disk 1 (or whatever number it happens to be on your system. Type “list disk” from within the diskpart command to find out)
3. clean
4. create partition primary
5. select partition 1
6. active
7. format fs=fat32
8. assign
9. exit

2. Now insert the Windows 7 DVD into your drive, or mount the ISO file using your favorite tool and copy the contents of the drive to the USB Flash Drive.

Again, command line instructions are here as well…(this command assumes D: is your DVD-Drive and E: is the Flash Drive — change them as required.

xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\

3. Now you can boot off the USB drive (you might need to enable USB booting in your BIOS) and install Windows 7 in the fastest possible time.

Well you can and it’s very easy.

Simply click “Start” and type:

iexplore -private

and hit enter. If you want IE8 to always open in inPrivate mode, right click on the IE8 icon and choose properties and in the “Target” field, just add “-private” to the end of the path.

Fast forward to today and now have Windows 7, the replacement to Vista and Microsoft is once again planning to stop supporting Windows XP.

Now, Microsoft wants to kill off XP again. Step one will be bringing free support for XP to a close on April 14th. Step two was letting anyone and their uncle get a free copy of the Windows 7 release candidate in May. Step three is letting the product speak for itself.

So the question is, will Windows users take on Windows 7? In most cases they will. The home user and the power user will proabably switch over, and if early benchmarks are to be believed, then maybe some gamers will make the switch as well. Corporate users on the other hand who resisted the Vista uptake will probably also sit on the fence for a bit before moving to Windows 7, unless Microsoft sweeten the deal with some nifty license savings, but that’s to be expected anyway.

Windows 7 though, does looks and feel a lot like Vista and that might hurt it in the short term, but having used Windows 7 for many months now, personally, I think Vista will be a distant memory and Windows 7 will take off like Microsoft had hoped.

So this is an interesting time for Microsoft and consumers. On one hand we’re being pretty much forced into adopting Windows 7, but hey, it’s a very good Operating System and using it is fine by me. On the other hand, if your situation allows it, there are other choices out there, including OSX and Linux. Microsoft know that and I think they will be delivering a product that most Windows users want.

Time will tell. The choice is yours in the end.

If you’d like to learn more about Windows 7, I’d recommend that you get hold of this Windows 7 Training.