Windows 7 System Requirements

System requirements for Windows 7 aren’t any great mystery, but now we’re getting a much better idea of what it’ll say on the retail box. According to early tests, Windows 7 performs better than Windows Vista on the same hardware.

• 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
• 1 GB of RAM (32-bit)/2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit)/20 GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with Windows Display Driver Model 1.0 or higher driver

For reference, Windows Vista’s system requirements are:

• 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
• 512 MB of RAM (for Home Basic); 1 GB of RAM for all other versions
• 15 GB of available disk space
• Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory (for Home Basic); 128 MB of graphics memory plus WDDM support for all other versions

Windows 7 Tips and Tricks

There are plenty more Windows 7 tricks up floating around. Leave a comment and keep expanding this list!

• Windows key + Left: docks current window to the left side of the screen.
• Windows key + Right: docks current window to the right side of the screen.
• Windows key + Up: maximizes and/or restores foreground window.
• Windows key + Down: minimizes active window.
• If you want a more Vista-esque taskbar rather than the superbar (why anyone would revert is beyond me), right-click the Taskbar, go to Properties, check the ‘Use small icons’ option, then change the “Taskbar Buttons” option to ‘Never combine.’
• Windows 7 now burns ISO files themselves instead of making users grapple with third-party applications.
• For those lucky people with a multi-monitor setup, Windows + SHIFT + Left (or Right) will shift a window from monitor to monitor.
• Gone is the “Add Font” dialog. It’s been replaced with a much nicer system. Download a font and double-click it (you’ll be greeted with the familar font window, but you should notice it now has a ‘Install’ button).
• Windows 7 now includes Gabriola. This is an elaborate display typeface that takes advantage of OpenType layout to create a variety of stylistic sets.
• If you press Windows + 1, it will create a new instance of the first icon in the task bar. This is handy if you do a lot of coding and need to open several instances of a program.
• If you right-click on a Taskbar icon, it brings up the much talked about Jump List. However, the same can be done by clicking with the left mouse button and dragging the icon “out” (so to speak). This was specifically designed for touch-enabled computers, such as your lovely HP TouchSmart PC.
• To run a program as an Administrator, it’s now as easy as holding CTRL + SHIFT when you open the application.
• With Windows 7, you can now create a ‘System Repair Disc.’ This is a CD bootable version of Windows 7 that includes the command prompt and a suite of system tools. Very handy for those really tough spots (which, with this still in beta, could be just around the corner). To get to this, simply open the Start Menu and type: “system repair disc” in the search field.

Customize Vista OEM Logo and Information

Usually OEM manufacturers add their logo and Information to OEM manufactured PCs, so maybe you want to get rid of it or want to customize it or even maybe you want to add your info instead of the OEM info? well here is a neat little trick for you to customize the OEM logo and information found on System Properties Applet on Vista.

• Select a new logo to change, this file should be 120×120 pixels and in BMP format because if its larger it will be re sampled and may produce undesirable effects.
• Click Start button and select Run, and type regedit.
• When the Registry editor is open, navigate to the following loacation:
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ OEMInformation
• If you do not find this, then your OEM info is missing and you need to create it.
• Follow this table to create a set of values

• Now you can customize to your hearts? delight.
• To change the logo, change the path to your new bmp file. Better to have it in C drive.
• You can change other info like Manufacturer, supporthours, supportphone, etc.
• After all customizations exit the registry editor.
• Now go to your System Properties and see the changes for yourself.

The Difference Between DVD and Blu-ray

Blu-ray has finally won the high definition format war, but that is just the beginning. There is a lot of confusion out there among the general public about the difference between DVD and Blu-ray discs. Although Blu-ray discs look exactly the same as DVDs in size and shape there are many differences between the media, including storage capacity, laser technology, disc construction, image resolution and player compatibility.
Storage Capacity
Storage capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB), like computers and iPods. The more GB the disc has more information it can hold.

• DVD- Single layer DVDs can store about 4.7 GB of data, which is about two hours worth of movie. These are commonly referred to as DVD-5s. Double layer DVDs, or DVD-9s, can store twice the amount of data at 8.7 GB. This equals about four hours of movie, or one “Lord of the Rings” movie.
• Blu-ray- Single layer Blu-ray discs store approximately 25 GB of data, this equals about two hours of high definition information or 13 hours of standard definition information. Double layer Blu-ray discs can hold about 50 GB equaling about four and a half hours of high definition information or 26 hours in standard definition. Potentially you could put all three “Lord of the Rings” movies on one double layer Blu-ray disc.

Laser Technology
Lasers are used in both media to read the information stored on the disc. As the disc spins the laser reads the information and transfers both picture and sound to the television.

• DVD- DVD players use a red laser at 650nm wave length to read DVD discs. As the disc spins the laser reads the information encoded on the media and produces an image and sound on your television.
• Blu-ray- Like the name suggests Blu-ray players use a blue laser to read the stored information. Blue laser wavelengths are shorter than the red at 405nm and are about two and a half times smaller in diameter than red lasers. This allows for closer and more precise reading of information stored on the disc.

Disc Construction
Physically, Blu-ray and DVD discs are identical. Both media have grooves or pits on their bottom layer than enables the laser to penetrate through and read the stored information.

• DVD- Since DVDs are read with a red laser the grooves on its underside need to be wide enough to accommodate the larger wavelength. Because the grooves are so far apart only 4.7 GB of information can be stored on each layer of the disc. DVDs also include a protective layer designed to resist scratching.
• Blu-ray- The grooves on a Blu-ray disc are much thinner and closer together because the blue laser used to read the disc has a shorter wave length and is two and a half times thinner than the red laser. This allows the Blu-ray disc to squeeze almost five times as many grooves on to a disc exactly the same size as a DVD. Blu-ray also includes a protective layer to prevent scratches. This protective layer is physically thinner than the one on a DVD, but it has a hard coating that makes it more scratch resistant.

Image Resolution
Image resolution is measured by the number of vertical lines times the number of horizontal lines of light in a picture. It is represented by the number of horizontal lines going across the screen like 480, 720 or 1080. The higher the number the higher the resolution and more detailed the picture.

• DVD- Almost all DVDs have a standard definition resolution of 480 or enhanced definition resolution of 520. These resolutions look great on a standard “tube” TV utilizing all available pixels on the screen. However, if blown up to accommodate a widescreen HDTV the picture may look grainy. Although a DVD can store high definition data it would only fit about 30 minutes maximum.
• Blu-ray- Blu-ray was designed for high definition 1080 display. Since they can store 25 GB of data you can fit an entire HD movie on a single layer disc. Blu-ray currently has the best image resolution on the market and looks great on HDTVs. Blu-ray discs are one of the few signal sources that displays in 1080, not even HD cable or satellite companies can claim that yet.

Player Compatibility
Some of us are still recovering from the VHS to DVD format switch of almost 10 years ago, slowly upgrading our VHS collections to DVD. Now, there is a new, better format on the horizon and many are still skeptical. However, you’ll be happy to hear that all Blu-ray players support DVDs.

• DVD Players- Blu-ray discs cannot and will not play in a standard DVD player, because the red laser used in DVD players is too large to read the tiny grooves in a Blu-ray disc.
• Blu-ray Players- All Blu-ray players currently on the market (including the Playstation 3) are backwards compatible and will still play standard DVDs. However, the DVD image displayed, while still decent, will not be high definition quality like a Blu-ray disc.

Fear not technophobes, the transition from DVD to Blu-ray will be relatively painless once the price of Blu-ray players starts to come down. With the exception of storage capacity perhaps the best thing Blu-ray has going for it is its higher image resolution and compatibility with standard DVDs. To find the Blu-ray player that fits your budget see our Blu-ray DVD players review.

Free search engine guide for Bloggers

This post is for new and average bloggers.  To get more traffic to a blog , one need higher search engine ranking. And if you need simple guide for search engine optimization (SEO) here it is . It starts from choosing the domain name ( blog name /website name).First you have to decide for which keyword or keywords you need higher ranking in search engines.  Suppose your name is Krish, and you want higher ranking for keyword 'Blog Income' ,then rather than choosing your domain name as krish.blogspot.com, choose blog-income.blogspot.com.  You can have your blog on blogspot (blogger) or word press or other.  After choosing domain name (blog name), choose relevant title matching to your keyword.  So in our example rather than choosing Krish's Blog, you can choose 'Increase Blog Income'.  Do not have more than 2-3 word for domain name,in case of blogspot blog.

So to make this guide simpler, I will tell you where you should use keyword on your blog.
Please do not edit your old titles for optimization.

Try to use your desired keyword in ( it should look natural use and not look as to inflate search engine ranking):

1. Blog name (Domain name)
2. Title of blog
3. Description of blog
4. Title of post
5. Body of post ( matter within post)
6. Labels / Categories
7. In ALT "keyword "of Images/Pictures in the post ( if images are there)
8. Select this image and give it hyperlink pointing to your post.
9. Try to get backlinks (link to your blog on other blogs)from other blog with anchor text as your keyword.
   In our example 'Blog Income' pointing to your blog.Some precautions need to be taken for backlinks , I will write more about it later.
10. As search engine gives importance to text link as well as Image link to your blog , please go for picture link also, with proper ALT tag and TITLE tag.
11. Do not submit your blog to search engines (?) , it is better that search engine spider /crawler finds your blog . So leave your blog name here in comment , I will try to get it in search engines within 3 - 4 days.
12. Submit your blog in Yahoo directory , Google directory and top blog directories in relevant category.
13. Read Google search engine guidelines

How do you speed up computer performance?

There are several things you can do to increase the "speed" of your computer. I will mention that you do upgrade your RAM as you do not have sufficient memory for Vista. You need at least 1GB but I recommend 2GB.

1. Clean up the disk. Uninstall unneeded programs (especially those that run at startup and/or put something in the system tray), run Disk Cleanup, and defragment the drive. This is a good first step that will almost always take a few seconds off boot time and application loads for any computer.
2. Stomp auto-starting programs. Click Start > Run and type "msconfig" at the prompt. Click the Startup tab and look at all that junk that loads when you launch your PC. Do you really need "Adobe Reader Speed Launch"? Probably not. Turn off anything else that looks useless, but be careful not to disable your anti-virus and important system components.
   
3. Run a full anti-virus and anti-spyware scan. I would recommend using AVG Free Anti-virus, Spybot - Search and Destroy spyware remover and Ad-aware spyware remover. These programs are all free.
   
4. Clean up the registry. CCleaner, available at http://www.ccleaner.com is free and worth running. It will also remove unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space.
   

Those are the easy and free things you can do. If your computer is still slow you need to move on to the bigger guns.

1. Upgrade RAM. This is the one killer trick that will make almost any computer run faster. With an older PC, you will rarely have enough RAM to run today's memory-hogging operating systems and applications, and adding a high-capacity stick or two of quality RAM will give you a quick speed boost. Adding RAM is fairly simple, even for a novice, and you should be able to do the job in 5 or 10 minutes.You can run a free test at http://www.crucial.com and find out what kind of RAM (memory) your computer needs.
   
2. Reinstall Windows. If the above tricks haven't helped, it may be time to wipe the slate clean and start again, reformatting your hard drive, reinstalling your applications, and restoring your data files from a backup. You'd be surprised how much more responsive a freshly reinstalled Windows system can be, as you've wiped out years of temp files, garbled registry entries, old versions of software programs that have been upgraded repeatedly, and all sorts of other electronic junk. Reinstalling is easy if you have the "recovery disk" that came with your PC, and only a bit more involved if you're using a retail copy of Windows XP. Just be sure you back up everything you want to take with you before you pull the trigger!
   
3. Upgrade your hard drive. This is a more complicated solution, but if you're reinstalling Windows (per the prior tip) you might consider upgrading to a bigger and possibly faster hard drive, too. Hard disk storage is a performance bottleneck on every machine, and magnetic disks degrade over time. Some performance issues could be caused by a failing hard drive, even, and upgrading to a new model could really put some zip back in your system. As a bonus, you can use the original hard drive for backups or occasional storage, if you put it in an enclosure.

Disabe IPv6 in Windoes Vista

Have you ever wondered why your torrents are slow and you are experiencing low torrent download rates?

well the answer for that is, Its because of IPv6, a new tachnology which impreoves the speed a lot if you are connected to a VERY High speedcorporate lan, but since if you are a home user,you would want to disble it and get more juice out of your internet connection.

Simply use browse to this location in your registry editor (Start–> Run–> regedit)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters

Create a new key which exactly spells like this “DisabledComponents” (without quotations)

and modify its binary data with the following hex value: FF

If you are curious what each bit of the DWORD does, here you go:
Disable all tunnel interfaces:
0×1

Disable 6to4:
0×2

Disable ISATAP:
0×4

Disable Teredo:
0×8

Disable Teredo and 6to4:
0xA

Disable all LAN and PPP interfaces:
0×10

Disable all LAN, PPP, and tunnel interfaces:
0×11

Prefer IPv4 over IPv6:
0×20

Disable IPv6 over all interfaces and prefer IPv4 to IPv6:
0xFF (this is what the above RegKey does)

Disable Error Reporting in Windows XP

Error reporting, what is it and why does Microsoft want you to have it on?  Basically whenever your computer crashes Win XP makes a little report of what went wrong and then sends it to Microsoft so they can improve the Windows Operating System.  Generally it sounds like a nice idea, but do you really want to be sending reports about your computer to Microsoft?  I personally don't and they allow you to shut off this feature.  Here's how you do it:

1. Open your control panel
2. Click on Performance and Maintenance
3. Then click on System
4. Go to the Advance Tab
5. Click on the Error Reporting button at the bottom
6. Select Disable Error Reporting
7. Click the "But notify me when a critical error occurs"
8. Click Ok Twice.

You can leave out step 7, but I like my operating system to tell me when its had a major error, mainly because I can look up the cause of the error and hopefully find a solution to it on the net or at Microsoft.  There you have it, error reporting to Microsoft is off and you don't have to worry about sending a report to Bill Gates.

How to Fix The Kernel32.dll Error

The Kernel32.dll file handles memory management, input/output operations, and interrupts. When you start Windows, Kernel32.dll is loaded into a protected memory space so that other programs do not take over that memory space.

On occasion, you may receive an invalid page fault (IPF) error message. This error message occurs when a program tries to access the Kernel32.dll protected memory space. Occasionally, the error message is caused by one particular program, and other times the error message is provoked by multiple files and programs. 

If the problem results from running one program, the program needs to be replaced. If the problem occurs when you access multiple files and programs, the damage is likely caused by damaged hardware.

You may want to clean boot the computer to help you identify the particular third-party memory-resident software. Note that programs that are not memory-resident can also cause IPF error messages.

The following conditions can cause Kernel32.dll error messages:

• Damaged swap file
• File allocation damage
• Damaged password list
• Damaged or incorrect version of the Kernel32.dll file
• Damaged registry
• Hardware, hot CPU, over clocking, broken power supply, RF noise, ground bounce, or bad hard disk controller
• BIOS settings for Wait states, RAM timing, or other BIOS settings
• Third-party software that is damaged or incorrectly installed
• .dll files that are saved to the desktop
• Non-existent or broken Temp folder 
• A control panel (.cpl) file is damaged
• Incorrect or damaged hardware driver
• Incorrectly installed printer drivers or HP Jetadmin drivers
• Damaged Java Machine
• Damaged .log files
• Damaged entries in the History folder
• Incompatible or damaged dynamic link library files
• Viruses
• Damaged or incorrect Msinfo32.exe file
• Low disk space
• Viruses or Malware

More on the possible causes:

• Bad memory modules:

You can test your memory modules by inserting the command: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:ON into your Config.sys file. You can use the System Configuration Utility:

1. Select Start>> Run and type: msconfig [Enter]

2. Next, select the Config.sys tab and add the HIMEM.SYS line (above) by pressing the New button.

3. Windows will tell you to reboot your computer.

4. Watch your screen for a message; "HIMEM has detected unreliable memory at address xx:xxxxxx" which will certainly indicate that there's a memory problem.

Note: Memory problems may not immediately surface from the result of this test. It may take many reboots or even a few days for the above message to appear. 

• CPU, bus speed or multiplier overclocking.

• Graphic acceleration set too high:

Select Control Panel > System, then select the Performance tab, click the Graphics button. Turn down Hardware acceleration by moving the slider a notch to the left, reboot, try again. 

• Bad or outdated drivers, especially video drivers:

Check with your card manufacturer for an updated set of drivers. Video drivers are updated constantly, it pays to have the latest release, especially if you find yourself having problems with Internet Explorer. 

What to do if you have Kernel32.dll IPF ("Invalid Page Fault") error?
This error occurs when an application tries to access kernel32.dll's protected memory space. It may be one particular program or application, or multiple files and applications. Most kernel32.dll errors are NOT caused by a corruption of the kernel32.dll module.
If the error seems to arise when activating a certain program, application or device, you should try uninstalling and re-installing that program, application or device.
If you frequently receive Invalid Page Fault in Kernel32.dll Errors from different drivers (Explorer, Guide.exe, Msgsrv32, Commgr32, Mprexe and others), it is possible that a damaged password list file is the culprit. Try re-creating your password list file:

1. In Windows Explorer select your \Windows folder

2. Press F3. This will bring up the Find: All Files window

3. In the 'Named' box type: *.pwl

4. Click Find Now

5. When a list of found files is displayed, select Edit> Select All> Press Delete on your keyboard

6. Exit the Find window and restart Windows

Note: This procedure will cause you to lose all of your saved passwords.  Be sure to write them down before deleting so that you can re-insert them as needed.

Internet Speed Secret

Microsoft reserves 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes like Windows Updates and interrogating your PC etc To get it back: Click Start then Run and type "gpedit.msc" without quotes.This opens the group policy editor. Then go to: Local Computer Policy then Computer Configuration then Administrative Templates then Network then QOS Packet Scheduler and then to Limit Reservable Bandwidth. Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the 'Explain' tab i.e."By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default." So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO. This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.It works on Win 2000 as well