Technology Explained for All
Microsoft
Software: Windows 7 – Changing the log-on screen picture
Nov 28th
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/windows_7 NULL.jpg) Customizing the way Windows look is something everyone does, from the picture you choose as your background, to the colors of your windows, to the way your start menu shows the program list, to numerous other possible changes. One of the things that I like about Windows 7 is changing the log-on screen, I think it makes my pc more “ME”.
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/image17 NULL.png) Windows 7 – Default Log-On Screen
There are various ways to manually change the log-on screen, plus numerous applications that say they will let you change the log-on screen, however, the one we are going to talk about in this post I would consider as the best and easiest application to change your log-on screen (That’s opinion of course).
The programs called Tweaks.com Log-On changer (From Tweaks.com) allows you in a simple fashion to pick the image you want to use and makes all the changes for you. It even allows you to test the image you choose and to change the image back to the default Windows 7 log-on screen if you are just not happy with your choice, so the changes are completely reversible.
All the you need to do is download the program, and run the TweaksLogOn.exe file (Nothing actually gets installed on your pc), at which point you will see your default screen with the choices of
- Change Logon Screen – Which is how you select your image
- Test – Which allows you to test your image change
- Revert to Default Logon Screen – Which puts your Logon Screen back to the Windows 7 default
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/image19 NULL.png) Once you select Change Logon Screen and select your image, if you test it and its to your liking, all you do is close the Tweak.com Logon Changer program and your done. That’s it.
Here is what my pc looks like now with the changes.
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/image20 NULL.png) My New Windows 7 Logon Screen
The software for this change can be found at Tweak.com (LINK: http://tweaks.com/software/tweakslogon/ (http://tweaks NULL.com/software/tweakslogon/))
Software: Resume Templates for MS Office
Nov 25th
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/work_in_progress NULL.jpg) With unemployment as high as it is currently, sending out your resume has become a full time job for some. I have had a number of family and friends all ask me to look over their resumes (I guess being employed qualifies you to review resumes), and a few of the resumes I saw needed some serious help. So to help them fix their resumes I started looking around for templates and I found some very good and free (if your sending out your resume, you probably aren’t in a position to be more than you have to), and found some very good ones being offered on the Microsoft website (in partnership with monster.com) for MS Office. The templates can be found on the Microsoft Office Online page (LINK: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/FX103504051033.aspx (http://office NULL.microsoft NULL.com/en-us/help/FX103504051033 NULL.aspx)).
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/resumetemplatescreen NULL.jpg)
The page breaks the templates down by resume type (Basic, Entry level / College student, Experienced Professional, Job-Specific, Career move, Academic). Just click on the resume type your looking for and then select from one of the 4 templates for each category.
Since the templates are being “Powered by monster.com”, you will see a couple of links in Office (only while you are using that specific template) pointing giving you the option to post the resume directly to the monster.com site. If you use monster.com, then that’s an extra help, however, if you don’t use monster all you have to do is just ignore the links, as you are still able to save and print the resume itself without any monster.com labels on your resume.
When you open the template you will see a Joe Doe type set up with some made up information, all you need to do is use that as your guide and over ride that information with your resume information.
If your in the need of getting Microsoft Office, one option to consider is downloading the new beta version of Microsoft Office 2010 (LINK: http://us2.office2010beta.microsoft.com/default.aspx?culture=en-US (http://us2 NULL.office2010beta NULL.microsoft NULL.com/default NULL.aspx?culture=en-US)). The beta includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, One Note, Publisher, Access. The beta version of Office 2010 will expire in October 2010, which gives you a full version of Office for free (Legally), for almost an entire year.
For those in the middle of the job search, TechGeekandMore wishes you luck in your quest.
Tech: You can’t change or save the Windows Power settings. How to fix it.
Nov 20th
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/microsoft2 NULL.jpg) A situation recently occurred with one of my clients this past week where they couldn’t change the power settings on their pc’s from Power save to any other choice. No matter what they tried as soon as they hit ok, the setting would go back to power save mode. There are a couple of reasons why you would not want power save mode. In there case, the PC’s were actually cash registers (Running Windows XP), and in power save mode, if the pc did not have any activity for a period of 3 minutes (Screenshot below is not from the affected terminals), the pc would go into sleep mode (as XP was turning off, the screen and the hard drive). This setting is not good for Point of sale software, as the pc going to sleep tends to corrupt the point of sale software.
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/powermanagement NULL.jpg)
The solution I came up with involved taking a copy of the power management registry entries from a functional machine and then installing the good registry files in the corrupt machine. The process worked very well and everything ended functional again.
Another possible problem one can face with the power management settings is that you have nothing listed. The same bug that would allow the settings not to save, can just as easily remove all the settings within the power management function.
With that all being said, I now share the .reg file I used to restore the settings on all the broken machines.
Just click on the download button below to start the file download. Keep in mind that the file you will be downloading is a registry file (.reg) so your Windows software or Antivirus software may prompt for a message about it being unsafe to download this type of file. The file itself is fine, you can ignore the messages (for this file, however, when surfing the internet that is a message you should not normally ignore), download the file to your desktop and then double click the file to enter the info into the registry.
Any questions drop me a line.
(http://cid-8804db538b4de88c NULL.skydrive NULL.live NULL.com/self NULL.aspx/ NULL.Public/Winodws%20Power%20options%20fix/XP%20PowerCfg%20Fix NULL.reg)
Keep in mind that this file is use at own risk, as neither I nor anyone else at TGM know exactly what your configuration is and this file is being offered as best effort help only.
Software: Microsoft Office 2010 Beta is here for everyone
Nov 18th
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/microsoft1 NULL.jpg) **UPDATED 11/18/2009 – 2PM**
During today’s PDC (Professional Developers Conference) Microsoft made official the public beta for Office 2010. The site that you can now download Office 2010 from is http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/default.aspx (http://www NULL.microsoft NULL.com/office/2010/en/default NULL.aspx) .
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/office2010demo NULL.jpg)
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A few months ago, Microsoft released “Technical Preview” for Microsoft Office 2010 to a select group (Disclosure: I have been using the Technical Preview since its release). Now its time for Office 2010 to get one step closer to joining the Microsoft offerings.
So Microsoft has now released the Office Professional Plus 2010 for those with TechNet/MSDN accounts. The download can be found @ http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx (http://technet NULL.microsoft NULL.com/en-us/default NULL.aspx)
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/office2010technetpage NULL.jpg)
Additionally, for everyone else there is now an office beta page on Microsoft.com. If you attempt to download from the office beta page you will get a message that says “The Office 2010 Beta will be available soon. Please come back later and try again”, however it is expected (based on chatter from the tech community) that at some point during the PDC conference in Los Angeles that Microsoft will announce and make the download office 2010 beta office.
In the mean time, the office beta page has demo’s and information on what’s new for Office 2010 including the add on to Microsoft office called Office Web Apps:
“Microsoft Office Web Apps are free online companions to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that give you the freedom to view, create, and edit documents from a supported Internet browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari).”
You can find the office beta page @ http://officebeta.microsoft.com/en-us/?CTT=97 (http://officebeta NULL.microsoft NULL.com/en-us/?CTT=97)
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/office2010page NULL.jpg)
Software: The November Updates(Patch Tuesday) – Microsoft
Nov 8th
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/microsoft NULL.jpg) Its that time of the month again. Microsoft is set to release its latest updates and fixes this coming Tuesday November 11th (Patch Tuesday).
The patches will fix security holes in:
- Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
- Windows XP Service Pack 2 & 3
- Windows Vista Service Pack 1 & 2
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2
- Microsoft Office XP
- Microsoft Office 2003
- Microsoft Office 2007
- Microsoft Office 2004 (Mac)
- Microsoft Office 2008 (Mac)
Those running Windows 7 do not have any scheduled patches for this coming Tuesdays release. As always please make sure that you run Windows update either by going to the Microsoft Update site (http://www.update.microsoft.com (http://www NULL.update NULL.microsoft NULL.com)) or if you are using Windows Vista from the start menu go to Control Panel –> Windows update –> Check for new updates.
Remember fixing security holes in your operating system, is like fixing a broken window in your home. You can lock your house door all you like, but if you don’t fix the window, bad guys will have an easy time getting into your home.
Alert: Walmart 1 Day Sale – November 7th has a couple of GREAT DEALS
Nov 5th
I don’t normally see Walmart ads as a tech feature, but in this case I’ll make an exception. It seems to drive more traffic to Walmart between now and “black Friday”, Walmart has decided to select a couple of items every Saturday for the next few Saturdays for a 1 day only sale (No rain Checks). In this 1st sale on Saturday (In-Store only not online), they have 2 specific items that caught my eye
HP 15.6″ Pavilion G60-519WM Entertainment Laptop PC with Intel Celeron Processor 900 & Windows 7 Home Premium
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/hplaptop298 NULL.jpg)
It includes according to the ad
Presents 1366 x 768 resolution (WXGA)
Provides 2.2GHz speed, an 800MB frontside bus, and 1MB L2 cache
Furnishes enough memory for today’s demanding applications and can be expanded to 4GB
Stores up to 71,000 photos, or up to 62,000 songs, or up to 30 hours of HD video, and more
Plays and creates CDs and DVDs with support for 11 different formats
Connect to a broadband modem (cable or DSL) wirelessly or using the wired 10/100 Ethernet port
Which for a Geek user may not be enough, however, I’m sure most home users will find these spec’s to be more than enough to get full enjoyment out of the laptop. Keep in mind that the price is not after rebates, its the in-store price.
Xbox 360 Arcade Console w/ Bonus* $100 eGift Card (Available for $199 in stores starting 11/7/2009. While supplies last)
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/xboxw100gc NULL.jpg)
It includes according to the ad
Includes a Bonus* $100 eGift Card
*One (1) per customer, limited time offer while supplies last, online only gift card.
The Xbox 360 Arcade Console offers everything you need to begin playing right out of the box. Plug in the console, connect the wireless controller and you’re playing. The Xbox 360 Arcade Family Settings allow parents to restrict game access for younger players. The console comes with a wireless controller and 512MB of memory. There is also an HDMI port, so you can experience your games in the highest definition possible, up to 1080p (HDMI cable sold separately).
- Connect the Xbox 360 Arcade to your broadband connection, attach a storage device (hard drive or memory unit) and get instant access to Xbox LIVE Silver.
- Express your digital identity through your gamertag and gamer card, talk with others using voice chat and access Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
- Xbox 360 Games redefines what games look like, sound like, feel like and play like to engage your like never before.
- Every Xbox 360 title supports a minimum of 720p, and up to 1080p high definition resolution or 480 standard definition resolution, in 16:9 widescreen, with anti-aliasing so you enjoy smooth, movie-like graphics and multi-channel surround sound.
- Vibrant characters display depth of emotion to evoke more dramatic resonses, immersing you in the experience.
- Digital Entertainment: Amplify your music, photos, video and TV; watch progressive-scan DVD movies and share your digital pictures with friends.
- Xbox 360 also instantly streams the digital media stored on your MP3 player, Media Center PC or any Microsoft Windows XP 2005 or Vista -based PC.
The price is the same as usual for the XBOX360, the big thing here is that you get a $100 gift card (It’s an online gift card). If you were planning on getting an XBOX360, I would say Saturday is the day you want. The ad says 8am for both items, but I’m sure you will want to get there early.
“This has been a money saving tip from TGM for the holidays.”
To see the full ad you can go to the Walmart Ad Online (Walmart Advertisement (http://www NULL.walmart NULL.com/catalog/catalog NULL.gsp?cat=648061&povid=cat14503-env172199-module110409-lLinkSP1))
(http://www
