Born in '84, I've always been a gamer at heart. My first gaming console was the Nintendo (NES), 8-bit system. I was sold from day one. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a SNES, but with patience came the PlayStation... The rest is pretty much history (for another time and place).
Check out more about me on https://tommynation.com/about/
If you’re like me, living on the bleeding edge with Windows 7 RC, you might have noticed the watermark in the right-hand corner of your desktop. Such things annoy me a bit, so I went to work (Googled) how to remove it, and found a great solution.
To remove your watermark(s), download this nifty little watermark removal application, right-click the appropriate file for your system (32-bit or 64-bit) and run it as an administrator. Follow the on-screen instructions and you’re set!
This removes watermarks for all Windows versions and all languages by searching for some standard watermarking strings and modifying the user32.dll.mui file instead of replacing it with a pre-patched file like others do.
Ignore any weird question marks that might be displayed in the CMD window – it still works perfectly.
Microsoft attempts something different with their new marketing hype of the upcoming Office release 14, also known as Office 2010.
Launchingwww.office2010themovie.com, we’ re treated to some semi-witty movie trailer-esque videos. While showing us that Microsoft likes to be witty and creative with their marketing, they don’t really reveal much in detail about the new Office 2010 release (at the time of writing). So to make up for Microsoft’s shortcomings, I have included a video that shows some actual footage from the Office 2010 Technical Preview, courtesy of YouTube user lukychan.
One important thing we do know is that it will be released in both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) versions. We also know that Microsoft is focusing on options for adapting the Office suite to suit the needs of different types of users. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the final product.
Still, it’s definitely worth checking out if you’re still trying to recover from their dreadfully awkward Songsmith commercial. (Click “Read the rest…” below the Office 2010 videos following to see it. It’s not for the faint of heart, so consider yourself warned.)
On my Media Center PC, after reinstalling some video codecs, my MKV* video files made Windows Explorer crash regularly when opening a folder with one of these files in it. To solve this problem, I had to disable automatic thumbnail generation in Vista or Windows 7. Disabling thumbnail preview in Windows Explorer can make Vista/Windows 7 perform notably faster in any case, as Explorer will no longer be generating thumbnails for every video and image file in every folder you open. This is especially useful when browsing back and forth between multiple folders. Follow these steps to disable the automatic thumbnail generation:
Press and hold the Windows key on your keyboard, then press E to open Windows Explorer (alternatively click Start > Accessories > Windows Explorer).
In the Windows Explorer window, click on the Organize button on the menu/shortcut bar.
In the pull down menu, click on Folder and Search Options.
The Folder Options dialog window will appear. Click on the View tab.
Under the Files and Folders tree heading, check (tick) the box next to Always show icons, never thumbnails option.
Click the OK button and you’re good to go!
* MKV is a common container format for video, audio and subtitles, often used to distribute standard and high definition video, audio and associated subtitles in one single file, with support for multiple audio and subtitle tracks, just like on a DVD.
Edit: Some codec packs by default turns off MKV thumbnails, but also makes it possible to easily control this and MANY other settings through an easy to use Windows application interface.
The plugin can even hook on to the remote control driver and enable access to customizeable special functions and shortcuts when using a Media Center compatible remote control. There’s even a newly added feature that enables Windows Live Messenger integration. I haven’t tested this one myself yet, though.
To be able to access administrative shares and shut it down remotely, I added another user to my media center computer (HTPC) matching my usual username and password. Upon next boot, I discovered that instead of being logged on automatically, I was now presented with a logon screen, where I had to choose between the default (passwordless) user and my newly created “remote control” account.
“There’s got to be a way to get the automatic logon back”, I thought. Of course there is! Following is the simple solution to configure automatic logon in Windows 7 or Vista. (Please bare with me, and pretend that the Norwegian screenshots are in English for now.)
Even if your Windows 7 or Vista user account is a member of the Administrators group, you are still asked to give applications permission to access your system in different ways. To enable the hidden Administrator account – and free of these hassles – simply follow these directions:
In the search field of the Start menu, type “cmd” and right-click the cmd.exe suggestion that pops up in the results.
Select “Run as administrator”.
In the command prompt window, type (without the quotes) “net user administrator /active:yes”.
Log out of Windows – voilà – the administrator account is now selectable.
Even if you consider yourself an advanced Windows user, beware that activating the Administrator account makes your system more vulnerable when you are logged in as this user. It’s the same as being logged in as the root user in Linux, in that applications will now get access to your file system like in Windows XP.
