2009

I just got a job and due to some busy days that followed, I could not post for one week. But now I have managed my time and schedule and spared much of it for maintaining my blog. I always wanted to post this. As it happens with every OS, it initially looks cool but soon we get bored of its look and feel. Windows 7 Beta 1 launched a month ago and now I think most of you have had enough of the default fish desktop of Windows 7 Beta 1 (just in case you’re curious, the name of that fish is ‘Betta’, you got the idea!). I have made some themes which you can download and install it by simply double-clicking on it. Just making your job easier, nothing else.

Download whole pack.

Download themes individually:

All Bluey
Pink Electra
Dream Chaze
Frosty Blue
Green Is Good
Ice City
Minty Beige
Priyanka Chopra Goes Noir

Have fun.

Technorati Tags: windows 7,themes,desktop customization,aero themes

Windows 7 Beta 1: Fix subtitle issue while playing movies

If you have been using K-Lite Codec Packs for a while now on Windows XP/Vista, then you know that the subtitle of a video gets loaded automatically when you open that video (provided the video and the subtitle file have the same name and they are in the same folder). But in Windows 7, the subtitles do not load automatically. So, if you are a subtitle freak, just as me, and want those subtitles to get loaded in Media Player Classic (bundled with K-Lite Codec Pack), then apply the following tweak:

Open Media Player Classic. Click ‘View’ > ‘Options’.

In the left pane, click ‘External Filters’. Now in the right pane, click ‘Add Filters’.

Drag the horizontal slider a bit to find ‘DirectVobSub (auto-load version)’. Select it and click ‘OK’.

Now out of the three radio buttons on the extreme right, select ‘Prefer’ radio button. Click ‘OK’.

That’s it. Now you can enjoy your favorite movie with subtitles as before.

Technorati Tags: windows 7,fix subtitle issue,subtitles don’t load,directvobsub

This is not actually a bug. It is just administrator-level rights mash up. What happens is when you deactivate UAC, the gadgets on your desktop stop working. Without wasting time, here’s a quick solution:

Open Registry Editor (regedit in the Run dialog box). Navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Sidebar\Setting”

Create new DWORD value in the right pane and name it ‘AllowElevatedProcess’ and set its value to 1.

Done! Your gadgets should work fine with UAC disabled.

Technorati Tags: windows 7,gadgets problem,gadgets hotfix

Windows Live Movie Maker Beta – Utter Crap!

Sure something has gotten into Microsoft when they developed Windows Live Movie Maker Beta. Now a part of Windows Live essentials, this version of Windows Movie Maker is just next to crap. At least it seems so. Yesterday I had some videos to decorate and so I merrily opened Windows Live Movie Maker for the first time after installation and to my surprise, this was all I could see:

The interface is no doubt clean, but it is really missing some core components which were available in the previous versions. Most of the options are just not there. You cannot insert title/ending credits, no representation in the form of frames, cutting multiple parts of a video is tiresome, very less transitions and effects options are some of the glitches. Before going ahead, see another screenshot:

Did you see that? That’s all we have. Just 3-4 transitions and 7-8 effects options. That’s it. You cannot change the timing for how long a particular effect should last. Here’s one another screenshot of the ‘Edit’ menu:

Now if you want a captioned video with some text, then you use that ‘Textbox’ to place some text on your video. But hey wait…! There is no option for how long! It will put the text on the entire length of the video. That’s very annoying. Not to mention you cant create any credits for your video because there are no such options available.

Now when you have hardly managed to make a nice video in the Windows Live Movie Maker Beta, the moment you click ‘Save’, you realize that you can save your video in just one format (.WMV) and that too in just two resolutions. What if I want to save it as a .MPG or .AVI file? If Microsoft can offer native support for DivX and XviD formats in Windows 7, then why they compromise when it comes to saving a video file in multiple formats. And why just two resolutions? Well, as I said, this is just a Beta. Hope things get better by the time the final version is out.

Technorati Tags: windows live movie maker beta,windows live,live essentials

This has to happen sooner or later. It seems Microsoft is going the Apple way. Microsoft has recently launched an online store for all buying it’s products online. Now users needing any Microsoft products won’t have to visit a different website for every other product. Every Microsoft product is now available at one place: Microsoft Store.

Some products listed there are Vista Operating Systems, Microsoft Office 2007 all versions, Microsoft security products like OneCare, Microsoft Visual Studio all versions, Microsoft Works, Microsoft MapPoint and many more. Visit Microsoft Store.

Technorati Tags: microsoft store,buy online,online products

As you all know, Microsoft has released the Official Beta 1 of the next Windows client operating system, Windows 7 and I am sure, most of the Win Fan boys and technology enthusiasts have grabbed their copy of Windows 7 Beta 1. As it is a Beta, it is not for the faint hearted. Frequent crashes, sudden BSODs, lots of error messages and permanent loss of data are usually the symbols of a Beta Release and the user is more like a bug-hunter. I finished my Windows 7 install today afternoon and have found a few bugs which I will point out here. Before that, let me tell you, Windows 7 is not at all a bad system. It is the best windows version ever as far as features go. But because it is just in its Beta, bugs have to be there. And things will get a lot smoother in the coming versions. Be sure about that.

Bug 1: MP3 Corrupting Bug

Yes, there is this bug in Windows 7 Beta 1 that when you play an MP3 file in Windows Media Player, it ‘chops’ off the initial audio portion of the file making it useless forever. But no reason to panic.

Solution – Before you install/upgrade to Windows 7, make the whole directory of your MP3 files as READ-ONLY. By doing this, your MP3 files will remain safe even if you accidently open WMP. Quickly download hotfix KB961367 from Microsoft website. Below are the direct links to the hotfix.

Hotfix KB961367 (If you are using 32-Bit Windows 7 Beta 1 OS)

Hotfix KB961367 (If you are using 64-Bit Windows 7 Beta 1 OS)

Bug 2: Control Panel icon not changing bug

This is a minor one but can be caught very soon. The bug is that whenever you open Control Panel, its icon appears in the task bar (as usual). But then, when you click any of the options inside Control Panel, say ‘Action Center’, the window contents change, but the icon in the task bar remains that of Control Panel and not Action Center. No solution for this small bug as yet. Click the image below to enlarge it.

Bug 3: Irrelevant cursor schemes

May be it is just me but I just found this. When you open ‘Pointers’ tab in ‘Mouse Properties’ in Windows 7 Beta 1, you may see many schemes with the same name i.e. (system scheme). This obviously is a bug. See the screen shot below.

Bug 4: Explorer takes forever to load after hibernation

I don’t know whether all Windows 7 Beta 1 users are facing this problem or have even noticed it. When the computer awakes from hibernation, the explorer windows take forever to load and you see the address bar getting filled up by the green hue but never fills up completely. In ‘Computer’ window[previously known as 'My Computer'], the progress bar indicating the amount of free space for the individual drives doesn’t show up. This surely is a bug because once you reboot, everything is back to normal. The problem triggers when the computer wakes up from hibernation. Recently saw many updates available for Windows 7 Beta 1. Hope some known and unknown bugs get rectified.

Bug 5: Taskbar icons go missing on selecting ‘Never Combine’

This bug can appear in your system if you are unlucky. That’s because, many users experience this problem, many do not. Well, I do. So here it is. When you select ‘Never Combine’ option in the ‘Taskbar Buttons’ field of ‘Taskbar Properties’ and hit ‘OK’, the icons of the open windows and programs turn into a blank and transparent rectangle. However, as I said earlier, you may or may not face this problem because many Windows 7 Beta 1 users don’t experience this bug and their taskbar show icons with labels flawlessly upon selecting ‘Never Combine’. A screenshot of the bug:

Bug 6: Broken link provided in the Control Panel

This is a serious one. It may not seem so, but it is. Open ControlPanel >> All Control Panel Items >> Default Location. Now click on the blue colored link which says ‘Learn more about geographical location online’. To your surprise, you will be taken over to the Microsoft Homepage. No mention about any geographical location. That’s a bug definitely.

~~[The above list is not complete. I will add more bugs as I find them. Don’t forget to visit frequently for updated content.]~~

Technorati Tags: windows 7 bugs,windows 7,beta,bug finding

Microsoft will unveil its next generation operating system Windows 7, in its first public release: The Beta Release. Windows 7 (Beta 1, Build 7000) will be available as a free download-only version from Official Windows 7 website. However, the operating system is still in its infancy and its mainly out for developers and bug-hunters. Furthermore, there are some things that should be kept in mind while downloading and installing Windows 7 Beta 1.