Getting familiar with keyboard shortcuts not only helps you get work done faster, but also makes you more efficient and productive. If your daily job rely heavily on using Windows, here are some 140+ Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts (most of these shortcuts will also work in Windows XP and Vista too,) you might want to check out. If we missed any nifty shortcuts, we will appreciate a heads up about them in the comments below.

1. Shortcuts to manage windows

2. Shortcuts to get access to Windows Features

3. Windows 7 Taskbar shortcuts

4. Shortcuts for navigating Desktop

5. Windows Explorer shortcuts

6. Photo Viewer shortcuts

7. Shortcuts for use in dialog boxes

8. Shortcuts useful for Windows Admins

9. Windows Help shortcuts

10. Ease of Access and Magnifier shortcuts

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Microsoft has released a hotfix for fixing a very serious issue in Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 that is affecting users whose computers are attached with hard drives larger than 2 terabytes of disk space. The consequences of this bug is very fatal and may cause volume corruption and if the corrupted volumes include the system partition, than users cannot start the computer.

This issue occurs because of the crash dump disk driver (Diskdump.sys) cannot address more than 2 terabytes of disk space. The Diskdump.sys driver can address up to 2 to the power of 32 sectors. If the sector size is 512 bytes, the driver can address up to 2 terabytes of disk space. If the actual offset is larger than this limitation, the driver incorrectly truncates the offset and saves data to a wrong location. Therefore, one or more volumes on the disk are corrupted.

This issue also occurs when the operating system enters into hibernation and generates a Hiberfile.sys file that is at a disk offset greater than the 2 terabyte disk offset of the hard disk drive. It may also occur when the operating system crashes, generates a Stop code error message, and saves memory data to a dump file. In this scenario, one or more volumes of the hard disk drive may be corrupted. Additionally, all data on these volumes are lost.

Microsoft has created a hotfix that should only be installed by users with computer systems with hard drives larger than 2 terabytes. It is recommended for the users who may have similar system configuration to install the hotfix and avoid any possible corruption issues. The computer needs to be restarted after applying the hotfix.

Users without hard drives larger than 2 terabytes do not need to install the hotfix.

The hotfix can be directly downloaded from the Microsoft Knowledgebase through the link below:

Download HotFix KB2249857

c8c66bb284ea436c8c4955290f9f3a3b

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NetAnimate is a very small application that monitors and indicates network traffic of your computer. The program runs as a system tray icon, providing a visual sign of network traffic of the selected network adapters. Holding the pointer over the tray icon will display the total number of bytes sent and received by your network adapters.

Right-click on the system tray icon to pop-up a context menu that allows you to open “Network Connections”, “Network and Sharing center”, “Windows Firewall” windows and the properties of the network adapters available.

In NetAnimate, you have the option to select from different icon sets as your network activity indicator. The program does not need any additional libraries and does not make any changes to the system.

Download NetAnimate

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AeroTweak also lets you recover your Windows 7 or Windows Vista product key. You can also view general system information. It lets you create System Restore point using only a click of a button before you make changes to your system, so that you can later revert back to old settings if you face a problem.

Many Windows XP users probably know about Microsoft TweakUI. It is a Windows XP system tweaker by Microsoft. For some reason Microsoft never released any utility similar to TweakUI for Windows 7 and Vista. According to the developer of AeroTweak, they created AeroTweak to fill up the void created by the non-existence of proper free tweaking utilities for Windows Vista and above.

AeroTweak interface supports only Russian and English languages. It is fully portable and consists of only one file “AeroTweak.exe” which is around 1 MB in size, thus you can carry it around in your USB flash drive.

Download AeroTweak

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Problem Symptom:

Consider the following scenario:

• You have a computer that is running Windows 7.
• You configure the power button to be used for hibernation on the computer.
• You change the setting of the Password protection on wake up setting to the Require a password (recommended) option.
• The computer is put into hibernation.
• You press the power button to resume the computer from hibernation. You are prompted to enter your user account credentials.
• The computer is put into hibernation again while you try to log on to the computer.For example, the computer is put into hibernation because of low power or because the power button is pressed by mistake.
• You press the power button to resume the computer from hibernation again.

In this scenario, the computer screen dims after you log on to resume from hibernation.

Cause:

This issue occurs because two threads try to fade out the monitor at the same time.

The hotfix might receive additional testing, hence, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next software update that contains the hotfix.

Download the required hotfix using following link:

Download FIX317706 for Windows 7 Hibernation issue

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This issue occurs because of a deadlock condition between the Lsass.exe process, the Redirected Drive Buffering Subsystem (Rdbss.sys) driver, and the Winsock kernel. A supported hotfix (Fix322397) is available from Microsoft.

The hotfix might receive additional testing, hence, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next software update that contains the final hotfix. To apply the hotfix, your computer must be running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7. You must restart the computer after applying the hotfix.

The same fix will also be provided with Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

[ Download Hotfix Fix322397 to fix Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Random Freezes ]

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EasyBCD is one such freeware utility available for the Windows platform, that helps you to take control of your boot loader easily. EasyBCD lets you customize your Windows Vista or Windows 7 boot loader settings easily. Using EasyBCD, setting up and configuring dual-boot or multi-boot options between Windows 7, Windows Vista, older editions of Windows like Windows XP & Windows 2003, Linux distros like Ubuntu, BSD, and even Apple Mac OS X is an easy task.

The user interface of the application is very easy to use and neatly laid down. You can easily create, edit or delete boot loader entries. You can also edit the boot menu, the menu which is shown when you boot your PC. The latest version of EasyBCD has all the bug fixes and now completely supports Windows 7.

Features of EasyBCD:

• Boot into XP/Vista/7/Ubuntu/OS X
• Boot from USB, Network, ISO images, Virtual Hard disks (VHD), WinPE
• Repair the Windows bootloader, change your boot drive, create a bootable USB
• Rename entries, set default boot target, change BCD timeout, hide the boot menu
• Create your own custom boot sequence, hide drives on boot, backup and restore configurations

[ Download EasyBCD ]

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Users will not be able to upgrade directly from SP1 Beta to the final version of Windows 7 SP1. So, if a user installs SP1 Beta, then they will have to first uninstall it before installing SP1 final. If Windows 7 SP1 Beta uninstall routine fails, then the user has to do a clean install of Windows 7, which no user will like. Anyways, Microsoft has provided a simple guide on how to uninstall and remove Windows 7 SP1 Beta and revert back to the RTM build.

Windows 7 SP1 Beta do creates backup files that are needed for uninstalling SP1 Beta later. But, if a user uses Disk Cleanup Wizard, the backup files needed to uninstall SP1 Beta might get deleted. Then the only option to remove SP1 Beta will be through the System Restore utility.

This uninstall process of SP1 applies both to Windows 7 SP1 Beta and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta.

How to Uninstall Windows 7 SP1 Beta or Windows Server 2008 SP1 Beta?

Uninstall SP1 Beta using Programs and Features:

• Click on the Start button (Start Orb), now click on Control Panel.
• Next, click on Programs, and then click Programs and Features.
• Click on View installed updates.
• Select Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB 976932) from the list of installed updates displayed and then click Uninstall.

  If you don’t see Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB 976932) in the list of installed updates, or if the uninstall option is disabled, then you have to use the System Restore utility (see third method below) to uninstall the service pack.

Uninstall SP1 Beta using the Command Prompt:

• Click on the Start button.
• In the search box, type command prompt or cmd.
• In the list of results displayed, right-click on Command Prompt, and select the Run as administrator option. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
• Type the following command at the command prompt:

  wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:976932

• Press Enter to continue uninstalling.

Uninstall SP1 Beta using System Restore utility:

• Click on the Start button.
• In the search box, type System Restore.
• From the list of results displayed, click on System Restore
• Now in the System Restore utility click on Next.
• Choose a restore point that matches the installation date for the service pack.

  Restore point will be either labeled as Install: Windows Update or Install: Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

• Verify the restore point, and then click on the Finish button.

The only disadvantage of using the System Restore utility to remove SP1 Beta is it will also remove programs and revert system changes made since the installation of the service pack.

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This service pack is also offered via Windows Update and in standard ISO image format, which is around 1.2 GB in size and required to be burned to a DVD first to use it.

Note: Users will be reminded beginning March 30, 2011 about the expiration of SP1 beta. The beta will expire on June 30, 2011. After the expiration, users will have to then either upgrade to a newer build or uninstall and return to the RTM build by that time. Please read the FAQ over at Microsoft which answers common questions related to SP1.

Executing the download enables the system to receive the Service Pack 1 Beta via Windows Update. It can take a while before the update shows in Windows Update. Windows 7 users who chooses to install SP1 beta via Windows Update will notice that the download size is between 45 MB to 600 MB, which is very less when compared to the standard ISO image size.

Free documentation provided by Microsoft that will come handy when deploying the SP1 beta:

• Deployment Guide for Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 and Windows 7 with SP1
• Documentation for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Beta (KB976932)

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 beta does not add new features to the operating system. It will consist of updates that are already available through Microsoft Windows Update and some more hotfixes based on the feedback provided by the customers and partners. Hence, we will recommend users not to install the SP1 beta and wait until the final service pack 1 is released before upgrading.

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 beta, however, consists of two new features:

Dynamic memory: An enhancement to Hyper-V in R2. It allows IT administrators to pool all the memory available on a physical host and dynamically distribute it to virtual machines running on that host as necessary. That means based on changes in workload, VM will be able to receive new memory allocations without a service interruption.

RemoteFX: RemoteFX describes a set of rich media capabilities that are available to customers using the Remote Desktop Services platform to deploy a virtual machine- or session-based remote desktop infrastructure. Specifically, RemoteFX enhances the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) in Remote Desktop Services, so that remote workers can access any type of application or screen content, including rich media and 3D applications, improving end-user productivity.

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To use this app, you just have to download it from his website door2windows and save it to a location on your hard drive. The download size of the app is amazingly only 441 KB for the ZIP version and 896 KB for the EXE version. After saving it, just run the app with Administrator rights and click on the Remove Start Menu User Picture button.

You will now find your Start Menu is not showing your User picture. If you want to revert back the settings, then simply click on the Add Start Menu User Picture button.

[ Download Windows 7 Start Menu User Picture Remover ]

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You may ask what is the problem here, as you can easily recover your Windows 7 or Vista, using the “recovery disk” or “recovery partition.” Well, the problem is, when you use the recovery disks/recovery partition to recover Windows 7 or Vista, it will delete all your files and restore your computer to the state it was in when you first purchased it.

Windows 7 and Windows Vista DVD installation media comes with a “recovery center” that allows you to fix common Windows operating system related problems without restoring the whole computer back. If you do not have this DVD, Microsoft have made a recovery disc for this purpose. The Windows 7/Vista Recovery Disc can be used to access a system recovery menu, giving you options of using System Restore, Complete PC Backup, automated system repair, and a command-line prompt for manual advanced recovery.

NeoSmart Technologies is hosting a copy of the Windows 7 Recovery Disc and a copy of Windows Vista Recovery Disk for your convenience. Windows 7 Recovery Disk 32-bit version is 143 MB in download size while the 64-bit is 165 MB in download size. Windows Vista Recovery Disk is 120 MB in download size. All these recovery disks are in the standard ISO format, ready to be burned directly to a CD or DVD.

Don’t wait until your PC crashes to download a copy! Download and burn your recovery disc today, so that when the time comes, you’ll be ready!

Note: You cannot use the recovery disc to install Windows 7 or Windows Vista from scratch or reinstall Windows.

[ Download Windows 7 Recovery Disc ]

[ Download Windows Vista Recovery Disc ]

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Two different clients are offered on the website, wlsetup-webd.exe will automatically download and install the Windows Live Essential applications, while, wlsetup-webc.exe offers a choice menu to install only specific applications as part of the Windows Live Essentials suite.

Windows Live Essentials beta includes free programs from Microsoft for photos, movies, instant messaging, e‑mail, blogging, and more. It includes beta versions of Messenger, Photo Gallery, Mail, Movie Maker, Writer, Family Safety, and Sync, plus Bing Bar and Messenger Companion. You also get Microsoft Office Outlook Connector Pack and Microsoft Silverlight. Windows Live Essentials beta requires Windows 7 or Windows Vista.

It is recommended to download the second client (wlsetup-webc.exe) to only choose and install the programs that you want.

According to the release announcement, this beta release of windows Live Essentials is focusing on two things: Connecting Windows to the cloud and Making everyday tasks simpler.

We’ve designed Essentials to connect your Windows experience to the web services you already use – not just the ones from Microsoft. The new betas of Windows Live Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Mail, Writer, and Messenger connect to photo and video sharing (SkyDrive, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, SmugMug), social networking (Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin), email (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail), blogging (Spaces, WordPress, Blogger), and document productivity (Office Web Apps) services. And the new Windows Live Sync keeps your files synchronized across multiple PCs and in the cloud. You can even directly access your PC over the web with Sync’s new remote desktop feature.

People like to get creative on their PCs as much as they like seeing what everyone else has been up to. Whether it’s Retouch, Panoramic Stitch, or Photo Fuse in Photo Gallery, Auto Movie in Movie Maker, or photo email in the new Windows Live Mail, we think you’ll be excited by the new additions to Essentials that make advanced tasks, well, easy. If you haven’t yet tried PhotoFuse to merge together the best of several photos, it’s a lot of fun.

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But it is sad to know that the development of X-Setup Pro has been shutdown and the last available version is made available for its fans as a free download.

All comes to an end …

Dear Customers,

Because of the insolvency of WUG all operations regarding X-Setup Pro have been shut down.

We thank all customers, partner and friends for their support during this time. We hope you had as much fun using X-Setup Pro as we had making it.

We wish you all the best,

TeX and Eric

P.S.:

You can still download the last version from Major Geeks: www.majorgeeks.com/download4083.html

In case you lost your serial number use this one instead: XSA092-11TA9R-8K12YT

As said in the announcement, you can still download the last version of X-Setup Pro from Major Geeks and use the serial number above to register it in-case you don’t have a serial number. If you are a Pro user, then you can use your existing serial number.

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Windows works better when it is completely shutdown and then started up again. If you reboot your computer once, you will find it again fast. This is because when you reboot Windows clears a lot of data from cache files, Windows also applies the pending updates, and programs and services that may have become non-responsive are stopped and then started again. If you want to get the benefits of a reboot and still start quickly out of a hibernation, then there is a little geeky tool to help you.

Boot Snooze is a freeware portable application that combines the benefits of a complete Windows system reboot and boot quickly out of sleep or hibernation.

After download, start Boot Snooze and then click on the “Restart then Standby” or “Restart then Hibernate” button. Your computer will automatically shutdown, and restart again, and then will display a small dialog box with a countdown timer, and then go into standby or hibernate mode. The timer displayed allows you to change your mind if you need to and stop the Standby or Hibernate process. Now, the next time when you start using your computer again, it will be faster than when you do a cold boot.

Note: For hibernation to work, your computer must have “Enable hibernation” already checked under your Control Panel > Power Options > Hibernate tab.

Do you have any tip or application which you use to speed up computer boot times? Share with us below in the comments!

[ Download Boot Snooze ]

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The Microsoft Download Manager enables you to download files from the Internet in a more reliable and faster way than using a browser alone. Using the Download Manager makes it easier to download large files such as an application or multimedia files.

More often than not, when users try downloading very large files, they face all kinds of problems, especially in the context of an unreliable connection. In such situations a download manager comes to rescue the user and helps the user to complete any download tasks, a feature which is missing in the browsers.

Upon installation users will find that Microsoft Download Manager features basic download manager functionality. The basic interface enables the user to add, pause, resume and delete downloads. Users can open the download folder after the download is complete. It also allows for some customization, featuring options such as the number of automatic retries, and the maximum number of simultaneous connections (up to 16 simultaneous connections). It also allows the user to configure a destination folder for the downloads or a proxy server for the application to use.

Microsoft Download Manager is a lightweight program and the download size is only 1.1 MB, which can be attributed to the lack of many advanced features. Microsoft Download Manager will be good enough for users who download files mostly from Microsoft website and occasionally from the Internet.

Microsoft Download Manager can be downloaded directly from Microsoft. Microsoft Download Manager supports not only Windows 7, but also for Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2 and SP3. Microsoft Download Manager is designed to work with Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 6, Firefox 3, Firefox 2.

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KillProcess is the application I am talking about. This application is “an assassin of the extreme kind“. It can kill almost any process running on a Windows machine, which even includes running services in the computer system. KillProcess can even terminate protected Microsoft system processes without any hiccups!

KillProcess can kill your applications within a fraction of seconds. It displays the memory usage of each process, and lets you stop processes effectively. It can kill multiple processes, either by multi-select or by clever use of “kill lists“. To select multiple processes, press down the [Ctrl] key and then select. Using these techniques it is possible to stop processes in “batch” mode, which is quick and you just need to click a button. Some of the “kill lists” are pre-installed and if you are interested you can download all available lists from KillProcess’s website.

It can also keep an eye on all running processes and kill a process that you don’t want on sight, very useful feature for killing stubborn and hard to stop processes normally related to malware.

[ Download KillProcess ]

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This free utility takes parental controls on your Windows operating system to the next level. Romaco Timeout also controls how much time a user can spend online before the application locks down the browser, and also gives the option of turning everything back on again after a certain amount of time has elapsed. If you want to set the application to start-up automatically every time a certain user logs on, you can do that, too.

When the maximum allotted time of computer usage reaches then the user is either logged off his account or the computer shuts down completely. After the user is logged off he/she will only be able to log back in if the administration password is typed, otherwise the user will have to wait until the next day when his usage quota will be reset. Romaco Timeout is designed to be automatic so it will require no administration after the first setup. But if you want to change its settings read below for a small how to.

How to use Romaco Timeout?

• After the installation of Romaco Timeout, launch it with Administrator privileges. Upon first launch it will prompt you to set the administrator password.
• Now to configure Romaco Timeout, first click on the Enable Timeout check box.
• Timeout is user account specific, so if you want to restrict more than one user account, simply log into that account and configure the settings individually for each account.
• Now select which mode to use between Daily Quota and Pre-session Time Limit. If Romaco Timeout is to work without user intervention for every session, then the Startup Automatically For This User check box must be checked.
  • The Daily Quota mode lets you set a time limit in hours and minutes for each day.
  • The Per-Session mode lets you set a time limit in hours and minutes for the session.
• The Warn box lets you set the time at which the user will receive a warning about his/her session time out, so that they can save their work. Select the action when the time limit ends for the user from the Action Option.
• The buttons on the right side give you more control over the software, you can reset  quotas, reset the administrative password, get help on Romaco Timeout, etc. from those buttons.

[ Download Romaco Timeout ]

Romaco Timeout works on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

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The second Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 9 shows a noticeable JavaScript speed improvements, thereby closing the gap between IE9 and Safari, Chrome, Opera, while surpassing Mozilla Firefox web browser.

See the table and the graph below for full details (data shown as released at the IE9 website):

Browser	Sunspider Result Average (ms)
IE8	3746
IE9 PDC 2009 Demo	832
Firefox 3.6	736
Firefox 3.7 Pre-Release Alpha5	645
IE9 Platform Preview #1	590
IE9 Platform Preview #2	473
Safari 4.0.5	412
Chrome 4.1.249.1064	371
Opera 10.52	294
Chrome 5.0.375.29 Beta	271

The Acid3 score of Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 2 also improved and went up to 68 out of 100. Not a perfect score but the IE9 developers have promised a better compatibility in the later releases.

The table below is a summary of the test results with the May 2010 IE Platform Preview and each of the major shipping browsers running on Windows.

Cross-browser Test Results Summary:

W3C Web Standards	Number of Submitted Tests	Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview	Mozilla Firefox 3.6.3	Opera 10.52	Apple Safari 4.05	Google Chrome 4.1
HTML5	40	100%	58%	45%	38%	38%
SVG 1.1 2nd edition	31	100%	84%	94%	90%	90%
CSS3 Media Queries	19	100%	74%	68%	42%	53%
CSS3 Borders & Backgrounds	33	100%	27%	88%	27%	91%
CSS3 Selectors	16	100%	81%	63%	50%	50%
DOM Level 3 Core	18	100%	78%	78%	94%	94%
DOM Level 3 Events	30	100%	37%	33%	20%	27%
DOM Level 2 Style	5	100%	100%	80%	20%	0%

A new user string is also introduced, with the feature to change the user agent string in the preview version of IE9.

IE9’s default UA string

There are four changes to IE8’s UA string that site developers need to be aware of:
1. Application version is incremented from ‘Mozilla/4.0′ to ‘Mozilla/5.0′ to match other browsers (explained well in the great History of the user-agent string post). This change signals that IE9 is an interoperable browser.
2. Version token is incremented from ‘MSIE 8.0′ to ‘MSIE 9.0′.
3. Trident token is incremented from ‘Trident/4.0′ to ‘Trident/5.0′.
4. IE9 will send the following short UA string without additions made by other software installed on the machine:

IE9′s Compatibility View UA string

Similar to IE8, IE9′s Compatibility View will map to IE7 Standards Mode, and IE9′s UA string when in Compatibility View will be:

Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0; Trident/5.0)

In Compatibility View, IE9 reports itself as IE7 through the application version number (Mozilla/4.0) and version token (MSIE 7.0). This is done for compatibility. An incremented Trident token, from ‘Trident/4.0′ to ‘Trident/5.0′, allows websites to distinguish between IE9 running in Compat View and IE8 running in Compat View.

The complete list of changes and resolved issues is listed in the release notes.

Web Platform

• Features Available
  • IE9 User Agent String
  • getElementsByClassName
  • characterSet
  • CSS3 Media Queries
  • HTML5 Events
    • DOMContentLoaded
  • DOM Core
    • DocumentType, ProcessingInstruction, createDocument
  • DOM Traversal
  • DOM L3 Events
    • DOMAttrModified, Composition events
• Features Partially Implemented
  • DataURI
    • Support in script source

Developer Tools

• Features Available
  • User Agent String Picker
    • A new tool that can be used to change the user agent string that IE sends with every request. The tool comes with some built in presets and new custom user agent strings can be added.
  • Console Tab
    • The console window is now a full tab and has been expanded to include the logging of diagnostic information from IE.
  • Network inspection improvements
    • Shortened URL
    • Color coding for errors
    • Scaling units (eg. 500 ms becomes 0.5 s)

Download Internet Explorer 9

You can download the Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 2 from the official Microsoft website.

Note: Internet Explorer 9 Platform preview can be installed side by side with Internet Explorer 8. IE9 PP2 is not yet suitable for full browsing experience as it is not yet a fully functional browser, and, lacks many important browser elements, and is just a preview. Read the FAQ before installing. Read the User Guide for some useful help and tips.

System Requirements

• Internet Explorer Platform Preview requires Windows 7 (x86 or x64) or Windows Vista SP2 (x86 or x64).
• For Vista users, Windows Internet Explorer 8 and DirectX 2D (D2D) must be installed on your system. If you’re not already running Internet Explorer 8, download and install it first. Then install DirectX 2D by installing the Platform Update for Windows Vista, available on Windows Update. Platform Preview is only available in a 32-bit x86 version but it will install and run on 64-bit Windows 7 and Vista.

Related posts, You Might Be Interested In:

• Microsoft FixIt Center Beta Fixes Windows Errors Automatically
• Microsoft Download Manager
• X-Setup Pro: Best Tweaking Software for Microsoft Windows, Now Available Free
• Use Quick Restore Maker to Create a System Restore Point in 1-click
• SMART Utility: Easily Tweak Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP Services

Main features:

SE-TrayMenu key features are:

• Quick adding of programs, documents, folders, internet links and more to your Windows system tray
• Global hotkey managing to access everything you want with one click
• Quick adding of applications and links using drag and drop
• Quick adding of frequently used applications and installed programs
• Completely customizable view with lots of pre-defined layouts and color schemes
• Clear interface with multiple languages support
• Portable version is available

Features that I liked the most in SE-TrayMenu are:

• Customization

  SE-TrayMenu’s appearance is completely customizable. You can easily change the layout of the way the list is displayed. Available options are: List of names, Small vertical list, Two columns, Wide fields. See the screenshots below.

  List of names	Small vertical list
  Two columns	Wide fields

  You can also customize the size of the icons, whether to show the program name at the bottom of the icon or on the side, the amount of margin you want between the items etc. Lots of themes are also available for customizing the overall look of the pop-up menu. You can also change the behavior of the menu display from the default mouse over to single mouse click. Availability of keyboard shortcuts, which further speeds up the launching of frequently used applications.

  

• Portability

  The application is fully portable and you can carry it around in a USB flash drive. Support for a range of Windows editions: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, makes it a good choice as an application launcher.

  Note: The application is written in .NET, so the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 is required.

[ Download SE-TrayMenu: Standalone Installer Version / Portable Version ]

Related posts, You Might Be Interested In:

• Microsoft Patch Tuesday: Security Bulletin Advance Notification for June 2010
• Microsoft FixIt Center Beta Fixes Windows Errors Automatically
• SMART Utility: Easily Tweak Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP Services
• Microsoft Download Manager
• X-Setup Pro: Best Tweaking Software for Microsoft Windows, Now Available Free

Microsoft’s new Fix It Center is a program which you can download for free. Fix It Center is currently in Beta stage and provides automatic fixes for a wide range of Windows bugs, problems and annoyances. You just need to choose the issue you need to fix, click Run, and follow the prompts (if any) by the program. The simple step-by-step instructions are very easy to follow and even your family and friends who are not so expert of computers can correct these problems with ease.

Fixes offered by Microsoft Fix It Center ranges from fixing Aero transparency problem to hardware or network adapter glitches and to Windows Media Player library and DVD issues. Fix It Center also features an inbuilt Windows system maintenance that checks for broken shortcuts, date and time problems, disk volume errors, etc.

Fix it Center can be installed on:

• Windows XP SP3
• Windows XP Pro (64-bit) SP2
• Windows Vista
• Windows 7
• Windows Server 2003 SP2
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Server 2008 R2

Installation

Download Fix it Center client and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

[ Download Microsoft Fix It Center ]

Don’t forget to create system restore points prior to running any of the repairs.

Related posts, You Might Be Interested In:

• Microsoft Patch Tuesday: Security Bulletin Advance Notification for June 2010
• X-Setup Pro: Best Tweaking Software for Microsoft Windows, Now Available Free
• SMART Utility: Easily Tweak Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP Services
• SE-TrayMenu – Free tray launcher and hotkey manager for Windows
• Romaco Timeout – Limit any Users Computer Overuse