Tech explorer reveals interesting tech news for windows 7. 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 had 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 accidentally 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 the ‘Pointers’ tab in ‘Mouse Properties’ in Windows 7 Beta 1, you may see many schemes with the same name, i.e. (system scheme). This 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.
