Most of us remember Windows System Restore as a lame-duck feature from Windows XP; when it seemed we might benefit from using it, it never quite worked how we expected. That's no longer the case.
Windows System Restore is an awesome system recovery tool, and it's included with Windows for free. It's the ideal solution for rolling back bad drivers, fixing when buggy software breaks your PC, or simply rolling you back to a previous point in time. If you've still got a bad taste in your mouth from the lackluster XP version of System Restore, it's time to take a look at it again if you've upgraded to Windows 7 or Vista.
Windows 7 officially launches today, but we've been testing, tweaking, customizing, fixing, and writing about this OS for a year now. We present here a guide to everything we've learned about the OS, from first install to final settings change.
Whether you've played around with Windows 7 during its beta or release candidate versions, launch day is finally here, and Windows 7 is finally ready for widespread, public consumption. This guide will take you straight through from system requirements and upgrading your PC to highlighting Windows 7's best new features to helping you hit the ground running with all of the awesome tweaks Windows 7 has in store for you.
Download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to see if your PC is ready for Windows 7. It scans your hardware, devices, and installed programs for known compatibility issues, gives you guidance on how to resolve potential issues found, and recommends what to do before you upgrade.
Microsoft is close to opening retail stores in several major cities across the planet, but in Paris they’re doing something special in anticipation of the real shops and the imminent launch of the Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft France has surprised inhabitants and visitors of the French capital with the public preparation of a genuine coffee shop / cafe situated in the heart of the city (47 Boulevard Sebastopol).
The Windows Cafe, which will only be open to the public for a couple of weeks starting October 22nd, will boast a number of Microsoft products that visitors can play around with (Xbox, mobile devices and more) but they will not be able to purchase anything there besides snacks and drinks.
Driver Detective software is designed to quickly locate the most current drivers specific to your computer system through its user friendly interface and access to an extensive database. Driver Detective saves the frustration and extensive time investment usually associated with updating drivers.
A Microsoft Software Engineer has posted the results of tests the company performed to the upgrade time of Windows 7. Worst case scenario is that it will take a bit over 20 hours. But a clean 32-bit install on what Microsoft calls "high-end hardware" should take only 30 minutes.
Imagine a situation where you need to install Windows Vista or 7 in a system but you don't have access to DVD drive. We all know Windows Vista, Server 2008 or 7 comes in DVDs and you'll need a DVD drive to install them. Then how will you install them? The solution is, you can create a bootable USB drive which can be used to install Windows without using DVD drive.
Even though it's been In the hands of OEMs for barely a week and has not even made it to general availability yet, Windows 7 has already been cracked. The crack can reportedly be built on Lenovo's Windows 7 Ultimate OEM DVD .ISO that was leaked to a Chinese forum. Using the leaked .ISO, the OEM-SLP product key and activation certificates can be obtained through the boot.wim.
We have heard a lot of feedback from beta testers and enthusiasts over the last 3 years that we need a better solution for homes with multiple PCs. I’m happy to confirm that we will indeed be offering a family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium (in select markets) which will allow installation on up to 3 PCs. As I’ve said before, stay tuned to our blog for more information on this and any other potential offers.
I know some people will download non-official copies of Windows 7 when it becomes available. Some of you will also have a brand new operating system infected with malware and spyware because some of these copies will be pre-infected. If you want to make sure the copy of Windows 7 that you downloaded has not been tampered with then check out the Windows 7 ISO Verifier.
Vista and XP users will need to pony up $119.99, $199.99, or $219.99 on October 22 to score their Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate upgrade, and those of you who want a full retail disc will need to roll up with $199.99, $299.99, or $319.99 respectively. It's not quite that simple, though: starting tomorrow, June 26, you'll be able to pre-order upgrades at much cheaper prices -- $49.99 for Home Premium and $99.99 for Professional..
Windows 7 Little Tweaker is a small and simple to use utility that let you easily activate a few useful extras for Microsoft's new OS, Windows 7 Ultimate. Windows 7 Little Tweaker is a Windows 7 only portable application and will not run on any other Windows versions. Windows 7 Little Tweaker must run as Administrator, and with UAC disabled.
The news comes in advance of comments being planned for the Computex conference in Taiwan early tomorrow morning, by Microsoft Corporate Vice President for OEMs Steve Guggenheimer. There he is scheduled to officially deliver the news that Windows 7 general availability worldwide will begin on Thursday, October 22.
Windows 7's about ready to come out of the oven, and now everybody can shove their hands in the warm OS pie. And really, you should. Here's everything you need to know to dive in.
Welcome to Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) testing. We're on our way to Windows 7, and if you like trying out pre-release software, now’s your chance. You get to see what's coming, and we get to see if our changes and fixes from the Beta testing are working correctly.
How do you test the software? You put it on your PC, and then do what you'd normally do. Your PC will automatically and anonymously send our engineers the information they need to verify the fixes and changes they made based on the Windows 7 Beta tests.
I currently have Windows 7 RC running in a Virtual PC and so far so different. Going from XP to 7 is going to be a shock.
I know some people will download non-official copies of Windows 7 when it becomes available. Some of you will also have a brand new operating system infected with malware and spyware because some of these copies will be pre-infected. If you want to make sure the copy of Windows 7 that you downloaded has not been tampered with then check out the 
Find out what the industry and Microsoft Engineers are saying about the next OS from Microsoft, 
