Monday, February 27, 2012

Driver Tip: How to Disable Digital Driver Signing

Have you ever tried to install some device drivers on 
Windows 7 and received a warning message that those drivers should be digitally signed? You can disable this driver signing warning message in Windows 7 with a simple procedure.

Go to the Start menu and type cmd.exe in the Search Bar. Right click on cmd.exe and choose Run as Administrator. 

If you have the UAC turned on, choose Yes to proceed. Otherwise, you should see the command windows opened already. In the shell window, copy and paste the following and hit Enter. 

But why do you need to go through this confusion when you can simply have a program like DriverAgent. This program will automatically search for updated Legacy audio drivers. It will locate the driver for you. You don't have to skim through a very confusing list. You don't have to log on the manufacturer's website. Just run DriverAgent and the driver will be found for you. 

bcdedit.exe -set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
bcdedit.exe -set TESTSIGNING ON
 

You'll get a confirmation that the operation completed successfully. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect. You've just disabled digital driver signing in Windows 7. 

» Perform a driver scan now!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

7 Hidden Tricks about your Operating System


artical Picture
Few tips for Windows 7 and OSX Lion that can save time and make you more productive
WINDOWS 7   
CREATE A WIRELESS HOTSPOT 


With some free software, you can convert your Windows 7 laptop (or desktop with a Wi-Fi card) into a wireless router to share internet with others. Just get Connectify (www. connectify.me) or Virtual Router (http://virtualrouter.codeplex.com) to enable this feature. Connectify and Virtual Router will not work on older editions of Windows.

VIRTUAL WINDOWS XP 
There are several reasons why you would want to run Windows XP virtually within Windows 7. Maybe you have programs that only work in XP or maybe you're

How to Activate GodMode in Windows 7

Want to activate GodMode in Windows 7? Here's how!
Windows 7 users are all abuzz about the OS and its GodMode. If you haven't heard of it, GodMode is a feature that was revealed by CNet's Microsoft Correspondent, Ina Fried. GodMode is a folder that brings together a long list of customization settings allowing you to change all your settings from one place. Neat huh? It's very easy to enable and damn useful if you tweak things around a lot.
I've broken it down into five-step process to avoid confusion:
Step 1: Right click.
Step 2: Click create folder.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Upgrade from Windows Server 2003 Domain Controller to Windows Server 2008



Introduction

I have been using Windows Server 2003 for years and I believe its time to shift and try using Windows Server 2008, I have downloaded RC0 and decided to Upgrade my Domain Controller, which is also a DNS & DHCP Server to Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition RC0. In this article, I will show you step by step how to perform an in-place upgrade for a Domain Controller from Windows Server 2003 To Windows Server 2008 RC0

Note: This article was written when Windows Server 2008 was still RC0. Changes might occur later once the product is RTM'd Upgrade Steps
  1. On you Windows Server 2003 DC, insert the Windows Server 2008 DVD, and then open command prompt and run the following commands, make sure first to browse to the adprep directory inside the Windows 008 DVD , in my case case, the F drive is the DVD Drive letter, so to browse to the adprep directory I would write the following inside cmd:cd f:\sources\adprerp

    adprep/ forestprep

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Microsoft latest Download release links (win2008,Hyper-V,Service Pack,SQL,Win7,Office,AD,System center and many more)


WindowsMicrosoft OfficeDeveloper toolsWindows PhoneMicrosoft Dynamics

Windows Server 2008 Service Packs

Windows Server 2008 x86SP1 Built-inSP2 Download
Windows Server 2008 x64SP1 Built-inSP2 Download
Windows Server 2008 ia64SP1 Built-inSP2 Download

   Some Latest Updated Microsoft Downloads   

Update: 7 More Free Virtualization Tools


Recently updated in Webinar about what's new in the free virtualization tools landscape. Over time, older free tools disappear and new free tools are launched. In many cases the newer tools are better and more innovative but, on the other hand, there are always free tools that are the de facto standard for that task.
There are well over 50 free tools available for vSphere, but I'm not covering all of them here. Instead, here are some of the more interesting new ones recently released for vSphere and Fusion.

Screen Shot 2012-01-10 at 12.45.45 AMNick Weaver's Uber Network Fuser -- This is the virtual network editor that's missing from VMware Fusion on the Mac. I tried it in my lab and showed how it

Friday, January 27, 2012

Installing Hyper-V and Deploying Windows Server 2008 as Your First Virtual Machine - Part II

Introduction
In part I of this article, I pointed to you the prerequisites to install Hyper-V, the differences between Hyper-V and Virtual Server 2005 R2, and then installed Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008. In this part of the article, I will use Hyper-V Manager to create my first Virtual machine and then install on it Windows Server 2008 as a guest operating system.





Once you install the Hyper-V role on Windows Server 2008, a new console will be installed on your machine, and it is called the Hyper-V Manager. Everything related to Hyper-V is done using this MMC console.

  1. To open Hyper-V, click on Start > Administrative Tools > Hyper-V Manager

Installing Hyper-V and Deploying Windows Server 2008 as Your First Virtual Machine - Part I

Introduction
Hyper-V is the next level of virtualization, with Windows Server 2008 you no longer need to deploy an application such as Virtual Server 2005 or Virtual PC or other virtualization technology in order to build your virtual machines. 
Hyper-V is one of the new roles available with Windows Server 2008 where you can install it and then start creating your virtual machines, take different snapshots for every virtual machine and much more. You can use a virtualized computing environment to improve the efficiency of your computing resources by utilizing more of your hardware resources.


In this two parts article, I will show you how to install the Hyper-V role and then in part two I will install Windows Server 2008 as a virtual machine with Hyper-V.

Hyper-V requires specific hardware. You will need the following:
  • An x64-based processor. Hyper-V will be available only in the x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008, the x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 Standard, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, and Windows Server 2008 Datacenter.

Identifying Hyper-V Version

Introduction: You installed Windows Server 2008, and you intend to Install Hyper-V role, but you are wondering which version of Hyper-V is included with your Windows Server 2008 DVD ? is it the Beta version that is included with the RTM version of Windows Server 2008 ? Or is it the RTM version of Hyper-V?

You might be in a situation also, where you have already installed Hyper-V role, but does not know which version you are running. In this article, I'm going to show you two methods to identify which hyper-V version your Windows Server has .




When Windows Server 2008 was RTM back in February 2008, Hyper-V was included in Beta version.
And then we had two release candidates, RC0 and RC1, till Hyper-V was RTM on June 26- 2008.

If you already had Hyper-V role installed , then you can identify the version you are running by :

  • Using the Command line
  • Using the Hyper-V Manager Console

Introducing Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 - Part 2 : Configuration


Introduction
In part 1 of this article, I installed Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008. Today I'm going to configure Hyper-V Server 2008 by using the Hyper-V ConfigurationWindow.


As shown in part 1 of this article, the desktop of the Hyper-V server contains only two windows; the Command Line window and the Hyper-V Configuration window. If by mistake you closed any of these windows, you can easily re-open anyone of these windows by following the below steps:
Opening the Command Line window
  1. Click CTRL+ALT+DEL > click on Start Task Manager
  2. Click on New Task...
  3. Type cmd > click Enter or OK

Introducing Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 - Part 1 : Installation

Introduction

The stand-alone version of Hyper-V is now available and is called Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008. So now if you want to work with Hyper-V and does not have a copy of Windows Server 2008, then download Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008, which is absolutely free, easy to install and easy to configure.



Since day one of introducing Hyper-V with Windows Server 2008, people on the TechNet forums were wondering if a stand alone Hyper-V server would ever be released and how much would it cost. People were very excited for Hyper-V, but not all of them had a hand on experience on Windows Server 2008 With Hyper-V ! For those people who have been waiting, the day had came and Microsoft released Hyper-V Server 2008, which in absolutely free !
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 requires specific hardware ( they are the same as Hyper-V that is available with Windows Server 2008). 
You will need the following:
  • An x64-based processor
  • Hardware-assisted virtualization. This is available in processors that include a virtualization option; specifically, Intel VT or AMD Virtualization
  • Hardware Data Execution Protection (DEP) must be available and be enabled. Specifically, you must enable Intel XD bit (execute disable bit) or AMD NX bit (no execute bit).

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Convert MS Outlook Contacts to vCard File


vCard Export Software is designed to convert MS Outlook contacts to vCard, MS Excel and Outlook Express Address Book. vCard Export provides a complete solution to export Outlook Contacts.
Software Features
  • Converts MS Outlook Contacts to MS Excel file.
  • Converts MS Outlook Contacts to vCard file (compatible with many email clients).
  • Converts MS Outlook Contacts to WAB file.
  • Converts Ansi Format (MS Outlook 2000/2002/XP), Unicode Format ( MS Outlook 2003/2007) to vCard, WAB & Excel File.
  • Do not require any special skills.
  • Software run successfully with MS Office 2007. SysTools vCard Export.
While using vCard Export to convert Outlook contacts, You must have the following installed on your PC:
  • Configured profile of MS Outlook 2007/2003/2002/XP/2000.
 Download Here    Link1       Link2  

 Also share the link in your facebook or twitter 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

A Portable Antivirus Software from Microsoft


Is your computer infected with a virus that is preventing you from downloading security updates from the Internet or from running any antivirus program on that machine? Or are your looking for an antivirus software that can be carried on a USB drive to quickly scan any disconnected computer(s) for viruses or malware?
You should check out Microsoft Safety Scanner. This is a free antivirus software, always updated with the latest definitions, and requires no installation - all you need to do is copy the program executable msert.exe to an infected computer and double-click that file. If it detects a problem, the infected files will be quarantined.
Antivirus for USB
You may either do a thorough scan - check every file and folder - or a quick scan that checks a limited number of folders that are most likely to contain viruses, malware or spyware.
Microsoft Safety Scanner is available as a free download for both 32-bit and 64-bit version of Windows. You may use on Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 machines and, unlike Microsoft’s other antivirus software, Safety Scanner doesn’t perform a check for genuine Windows.
The program expires after 10 days but you can always re-download it with the updated virus definitions. It won’t however scan your Outlook emails or your network drives for any possible infections.

Access Facebook on any Mobile Without the Internet


Do you have an old mobile phone, like the Nokia 1100, that has no browser and can do little more than make phone calls? Or are you stuck in some remote place where there’s no Internet or no other form of data (EGDE/GPRS/3G) connectivity is available?
Not a problem. You can still use your Facebook account in India by dialing *325# (or *fbk#) from your mobile phone – this service requires no data plan or Internet and it will even work on phones of the Stone Age. Here’s a quick tour:
        

Use Facebook without the Data Plan

Facebook India has partnered with Fonetwish to bring Facebook on every mobile phone without requiring any apps or even the Internet.
You dial the *325# number, then enter your Facebook username and password and you are in. You can then send number based commands to access various features of Facebook, chat with friends who are online, add new people to your friends list, and more.
I played with the service for some time and it was a nice experience overall. If there were a Unix-like shell interface for Facebook, it would be much similar. Fonetwish says that this service is currently available for Airtel, Aircel, Idea and Tata Docomo users in India.
It may be too much work to read your Facebook news feed stories one by one but this is a good option to quickly update your Facebook status or for chatting with friends who are online. The price is reasonable too – you just have pay a subscription fee of 1.00 per day for unlimited usage.
Related: If you have an old mobile phone, you can search Google by SMS without requiring a data plan.

Search Google on your Mobile Phone via SMS Text Messages

google-sms
This is something for mobile phone users in India who don't have a web-enabled phone – you can now search for information on Google using SMS. The service has been around for a while but Google is no longer charging a premium fee for sending you the SMS message.
The Google SMS search service may be used for finding movie timings, weather, nearest pizza restaurant, currency conversion, train schedules, cricket scores and a host of other things.
One of the very useful features in SMS search is language translation. For instance, I could SMS "say hello in French" to 9-77-33-00000 to get the right French word.
Google SMS Search could be real bad news for the business of services like Indiatimes that charge a premium fee for delivering news or astrology updates on the mobile phone using short codes.
For details go to the Google Mobile website or check their help center for more details.
The Google blog says that you only need to pay the standard SMS text charges for sending the SMS query to Google – there's no fee for the incoming messages from Google. The service is available for all popular cellular networks including Airtel, BSNL, Idea, Reliance, Spice, Tata Indicom and Vodafone.