Tim the Tech » Windows 7

Disable AVI preview in Windows Explorer

tim — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:29:46 +0000

The preview feature in Windows Explorer is really useful until you need to perform file management tasks on AVI files like deleting, renaming, or moving them. You’ll often get “access denied” messages if you don’t let Windows finish its scan. So to remove this feature, you can run these commands from a Command Prompt (Start -> Run, type in ‘cmd’ hit enter) to remove image and media preview:

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

Learn Windows 7

tim — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:09:32 +0000

Time to learn yet another Operating System, another Windows version is around the corner – but do you have time to learn Microsoft Windows 7?
For the considerable majority of people using Windows, you pretty much are in one of 2 camps right at the moment. You use Windows XP, or you use Microsoft Windows Vista. The upside for those of you using Microsoft Windows Vista. is that Windows 7 really isn’t all that much different from Windows Vista , it’s just different in some ways, but if you want to learn Windows 7, then there is an easy upgrade path for you.

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.

Windows Error Code 7

tim — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:05:42 +0000

The symptoms include the error message ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. Followed by a Windows error code 7

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

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.
When you receive the “Press F6 to load SCSI/Raid Drivers” prompt, press F7 to bypass Advanced Configuration and PowerInterface (ACPI) detection.
Finish the installation of Windows XP.

How you can Install Windows 7 from a USB Flash Drive

tim — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:00:40 +0000

1. Get a USB Flash Drive and format it using the FAT 32 Filesystem. You can do this from the Disk Management Console from within Windows or you can use the command prompt.

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.

Goodbye Windows XP, Hello Windows 7

tim — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:56:09 +0000

It’s pretty obvious that Microsoft have wanted to get rid of Windows XP and move users over to Windows Vista. The problem is that Vista wasn’t the Operating System Microsoft had hoped it would be. The lack of stable drivers and the lack of speed meant very early on that Windows Vista was going to be a hard sell.

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.

Windows 7 has been released

tim — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 06:17:07 +0000

The Release Date of Windows 7 has been officially announced. It’s October 22, 2009. If you are a Technet subscriber though, you can get it right now.

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