2Sep/101
Install the Good, Vista Version of Windows Movie Maker (6.0) on Windows 7
Short attention span? Download the zip file, read the readme file, and be on your merry way!
Like many others, I was sad to see Microsoft didn't include Movie Maker with Windows 7. I thought the Windows Live version might fill that void, but frankly, it sucks. The Vista version (Movie Maker 6.0) was the best Movie Maker that Microsoft made.
Note: there is a non-live version of Windows Movie Maker that you can download directly from Microsoft — Windows Movie Maker 2.6. It's not as nearly good as 6.0, though.
Thankfully, it's pretty easy to get the Vista version — Windows Movie Maker 6.0 — installed on Windows 7.
- Download this ZIP file of Windows Movie Maker 6.0. NOTE: You MUST have a legal license of Vista to use this. DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS if you don't have a paid license for Windows Vista.
- Open or extract the ZIP file.
- Copy the 'Windows Movie Maker 6.0' directory to 'C:\Program Files (x86)\' (for Windows 7 64-bit) OR 'C:\Program Files\' (for Windows 7 32-bit).
- Run the correct batch file for your version of Windows 7: 'install moviemk dlls - x64' for the 64-bit version of Windows 7, and 'install moviemk dlls - x86' for the 32-bit version of Windows 7.
- Make movies!
Shout below in the comments section if you have any issues. Oh and, do not attempt to install Windows Movie Maker 6.0 on Windows XP...it won't work.
29Jul/100
Want the Image Resizer PowerToy for Windows 7 or Vista? Here it is (sorta).
Microsoft's Image Resizer PowerToy for Windows XP was a convenient, no nonsense way to quickly resize images on the fly. I used to use it all the time in XP, and was bummed it never found its way to Windows Vista/7.
But thankfully, all is not lost to Microsoft's neglect. The Image Resizer Powertoy Clone for Windows is available for free on CodePlex, in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors.
Works on XP, Vista, Windows 7...oh and even Windows 2000. 
3Jul/100
How to get different wallpaper on dual monitors in Windows (without 3rd party software)
Applies to:
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
Windows XP, Vista, and 7 will only show the same wallpaper on both of your monitors. There isn't actually a setting to change this behavior (without the use of 3rd party tools such as Ultramon), but there is a very easy workaround.
You just need to do a little bit of image editing. For this demo, I'll use Adobe Photoshop, but any simple image editing tool will do.
First off, either open an image that is the resolution of your left monitor, or re-size an image to the proper resolution.
Note: this tutorial also assumes your left monitor is the same size or bigger than your right monitor. If not, this won't work right.
For example, my left monitor is 1920x1200, so — using Photoshop — I re-sized an image to 1920x1200.
The next step is to re-size our image's canvas to the total width of both monitors. Simply add up the width of your two displays. In my scenario, my monitors are 1920x1200 and 1280x1024, so the total width is 3200 pixels.
Using your image editor, re-size the width of the canvas (not the image) to the total width of both monitors. Make sure the left side of the image is anchored to the left edge, so the part that expands is blank. Finally, ensure the unit of measurement is set to pixels.
Now, copy another image, paste it as a new layer, and make it fill up the blank space (you'll probably want to use an image that is close to the resolution of your right monitor). Make sure the new image doesn't overlap the first image!
Save your new image somewhere as a JPEG or something Windows understands, and set it as your desktop wallpaper.
Then, go into your display properties and make sure the image's position is set to tiled:
That's it! You now have the appearance that each monitor has its own unique wallpaper. Kind of a pain, but worth it if you like a little variety in your wallpaper.
(Note: the screenshot below looks a little weird because the monitors are not the same height, and that's how it is displayed when I captured the image.)
4Jun/101
Location of important folders in Windows 7
I often find myself trying to remember where Windows 7 stores my important stuff. Here are a few important locations, and I'll probably continue to add more to this article as I find 'em.
Note: I'm pretty sure most of these are the same in Vista, but I can't personally vouch for that.
Note 2: Most of these require you to turn on viewing of hidden folders
Note 3: I am assuming the "C:" drive is your system drive; if not, replace it with the correct drive.
Location of Outlook data file(s):
C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
Location of iTunes backup of iPhone:
C:\users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup
(Note: there will be a cryptic folder name for each backup made. For example, "df774585e699dff29cf10cf495a1fe81540495e6")
Location of Windows 7 user-installed themes:
C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes
You can find some of the "hidden" Windows 7 themes here (more info here):
C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT
Windows 7 temp file directory:
C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp
And of course, don't forget about the most uber folder of all — God Mode.
26May/100
Getting the Run item back on the Windows Start Menu
Honestly, I liked the Run menu in Windows XP and earlier editions of Windows. I got pretty good at clicking Start, Run, and then typing in what I wanted to run (iTunes, Winword, calc, etc.). Most geeks like to be able to access msconfig and services.msc through the Run menu, for example.
But, for some reason, Microsoft ditched the run menu in Vista and Windows 7. Sure, I know you can still press Windows Key + R to invoke the Run menu, but it's kind of nice to have it there, for some reason. Makes my Start Menu feel less naked. So if you want to bring Run back, follow these simple steps.
- Right-click on the Start Menu, and click Properties.
- On the Start Menu tab, click Customize.
- In the Customize Start Menu window, scroll down until you find Run command. Check the box next to it (you can also get a lot of other stuff back here, too, like Recent Items, Network, Administrative Tools, and more. Poke around to see if there's anything you'd like to add to the Start Menu).
- Click OK on any open windows or dialog boxes.
That's it. You've got the Run menu item back — your Start Menu is whole again.
1Apr/100
Restoring the Vista / Windows 7 bootloader after a Linux dual-boot
I often flip-flop back and forth between Windows and Linux. I'm sort of bipolar about it.
This time, I decided it was time to just use Windows for a while. I was dual-booting Windows 7 and Linux Mint. I used Acronis Disk Director to delete the Linux partitions and used EasyBCD to restore the Windows bootloader — I thought I was all set.
For whatever reason, it didn't work this time (that combo has always worked well for me in the past). When I rebooted, I was greeted with "Grub Rescue >". Not good. I tried the easiest solution first: I stuck in the Windows 7 disc and tried an automatic startup repair. Unfortunately, it claimed there weren't any problems!
So here's how you fix it when all the easy methods fail (and this is still pretty easy):
1. Boot using a Windows 7 CD/DVD/bootable USB disk
2. If prompted, press any key to start Windows from the installation disc
3. Choose your language settings, and then click Next
4. Click Repair your computer
5. Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next (there will probably only be one)
6. On the System Recovery Options menu, click Command Prompt
7. At the prompt, type:
bootrec /fixmbr
And then:
bootrec /fixboot
8. Reboot your PC
That solved it for me! Shout below with questions.
9Mar/1010
Fixing Windows 7 Aero Snap feature with dual / multiple monitors
If you're a dual / multiple monitor user, you're probably bummed by the fact that Windows 7's Aero Snap feature treats all of your monitors as one big desktop. I.e., with your mouse, you can only "snap" a window to the right side of the right-most screen, and to the left side of the left-most screen.
The good news is that you can get around this with keyboard shortcuts. Push Windows Key + Left or Right Arrow to "snap" a window the right or left side of the active monitor (the monitor the window is currently on). Continuing to press the Windows Key + An Arrow Key will keep snapping the window to the sides of your other monitors.
Try it out! It's not as nice as using the mouse, but it's better than nothing.
Read about additional Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts here and here.
4Mar/100
The difference between Windows XP Mode and Windows xx Compatibility Mode
(I initially wrote this as a comment to this post but it seemed important enough to make into a post.)
Lately, I have noticed some confusion between Windows XP Mode and Windows xx Compatibility Mode — the former being a full image of Windows XP that runs within (some versions of) Windows 7, and the latter simply being a setting that tries to trick a program into working by applying settings from older versions of Windows.
Windows xx Compatibility Mode is accessed by right-clicking a program, and then clicking the "Compatibility" tab. It is (to my knowledge) available in any flavor of Windows 7 (Vista and XP had this capability, too).
In contrast, Windows XP Mode only runs on a couple high-end flavors of Win7, and requires a full download of Windows XP and Windows Virtual PC. More info here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/get-started.aspx.
Just clarifying. As usual, Microsoft hasn't made things easy with how they name stuff.
28Feb/102
How to: quickly and easily copy multiple file names to the Windows clipboard
At work, I needed a way to copy about 60 file names from Windows Explorer into an Excel spreadsheet. Copying each one individually seemed like a huge waste of time, so I Googled for a solution.
Turns out there's a slick, free utility called CopyFilenames by ExtraBit. It adds a simple Copy Filename (for a single file) / Copy Filenames (for multiple files) entry to the right-click context menu. Simply install CopyFilenames, right click on one or more files, and choose Copy Filenames. Then paste the list of file names into your application of choice.
See it in action below — in my example I used Excel but you can paste the file names into any application.
Nifty! Saved me a bunch of monkey work.
23Feb/102
Enable Remote Desktop On Windows 7 Home Premium – 64 & 32 Bit
Finally found a link to (what appears to be) a reliable forum for the Windows 7 Home Premium desktop hack. The forum is here.
For the brave, a direct link to the file.
Sound off if it works for you, since I don't have Windows 7 Home Premium.
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Recent Posts
- Install the Good, Vista Version of Windows Movie Maker (6.0) on Windows 7
- Installing an old, networked printer on Windows 7 or Vista (with the printer physically connected to a Windows XP machine)
- Want the Image Resizer PowerToy for Windows 7 or Vista? Here it is (sorta).
- How to get different wallpaper on dual monitors in Windows (without 3rd party software)
- R.I.P., Dell XPS M1330
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