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Category: Windows 7 support

  • How to Open a Elevated Command Prompt in Windows 7

    Information
    This tutorial will show you how to open a elevated command prompt with administrator rights (Run as administrator) instead of the default command prompt without administrator rights in Windows 7. This tutorial is not applicable to windows XP
    EXAMPLE: 
    Elevated Command Prompt
    NOTE: 
    Notice how the elevated command prompt opens to C:\Windows\System32 and not C:\Users\(user name) as the default command prompt without administrator rights.
    Here’s How:
    1. Use a Elevated Command Prompt shortcut.
    OR
    2. Open the Start Menu.
    3. Click on All Programs and Accessories, then right click on Command Prompt and click on Run as administrator. (See screen shot below)
    OR
    4. Open the Start Menu.
    5. In the Start Menu search box area, type cmd and press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER.
    OR
    6. Open the Start Menu.
    7. In the Start Menu search box area type cmd, then right click on cmd (at top), and click on Run as administrator. (See screen shot below)
    Tip
    If you are in a administrator account and get a log in prompt after doing any of the above steps, then click on the Cancel button and repeat the above step again. This will only do this for the very first time you try to open a elevated command prompt in Windows 7.
    If you are in a standard account, then you will need to type in the administrator’s password to elevate the command prompt.

  • How to Create a New Partition or Volume in Windows 7

    Information
    This tutorial will show you how to create a new primary partition using Disk Management or Diskpart in Windows 7 from a empty unallocated partition or volume.
    Note
    A primary partition is a type of partition created on a hard drive that can have a operating system installed on it. A primary partition functions as though it were a physically separate hard drive. By default on a MBR disk, you can create a maximum of 3 Primary partitions and 1 Extended partition with up to 128 logical volumes in the extended partition on a single hard disk.
    *You must be logged on in an administrator account to be able to do this tutorial.
    ***Warning***
    If you disable the Disk Defragmenter service, then you will get the error below when you try to do anything in Disk Management. If you get this error, then make sure that the Disk Defragmenter service is set to only Manual.
    OPTION ONE
    Using Disk Management
    1. You will first need to shrink a partition or volume from the free space on a disk to create unallocated space on that disk to use to create the new partition or volume with on the same disk.
    2. Open the Control Panel (All Items view), and click on the Administrative Tools icon. then close the Control Panel window.
    3. Click on Computer Management in Administrative Tools, then close the Administrative Tools window.
    4. In the left pane under Storage, click on Disk Management. (See screenshot below)
    5. In the middle pane, right click on the empty unallocated partition or volume and click on New Simple Volume. (See screenshot below)
    6. Click on the Next button. (See screenshot below)
    7. Type in how many MB (1 GB = 1024 MB) you want to use from the unallocated partition to create the new partition with, then click on the Next button. (See screenshot below)
    NOTE:
    If you want to use all of the unallocated partition to create the new partition with, then type all of the maximum disk space shown for the unallocated partition. If you do not use all of the maximum disk space, then you can use the left over space from the unallocted partition to create another new partition with.
    8. Select an available drive letter that you want to be assigned to the new partition in Computer, then click on the Next button. (See screenshot below)
    9. Type in a volume label name that you want for the new partition, check the Perform a quick format box, and click on the Next button. (See screenshot below)
    10. Click on the Finish button. (See screenshot below)
    11. The new primary partition or volume has now been created with the assigned unallocted partition space (step 7). (See screenshot below)
    12. Close the Computer Management window. (See screenshot above)

    Note:



    This method can also be used in Windows Xp and Windows Vista

    OPTION TWO

    Using Diskpart in a Elevated Command Prompt
    1. You will first need to shrink a partition or volume to create a unallocated partition to use to create the new partition or volume with.
    2. Open a elevated command prompt, or a command prompt at boot.
    3. In the elevated command prompt, type diskpart and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
    4. In the elevated command prompt, type list disk and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
    NOTE:
    This is to help you ID the disk number that has Free unallocated space that you want to create a new partition with. For example, Disk 1 with 80 GB of free space.
    5. In the elevated command prompt, type select disk # and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
    NOTE:
    You would substitute # for the disk number listed that you want to create a new partition with the free unallocated space there. For example, I want to create a new partition with the 80 GB of free space, so I would type select disk 2 and press Enter.
    6. In the elevated command prompt, type create partition primary and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
    NOTE:
    This will create a new blank RAW partition with selected disk (step 5) that contains the unallocated partition free space.
    7. In the elevated command prompt, type list volume and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
    NOTE:
    Look for the volume number that has the same Size as from the Free space in step 4. For example, Volume 3.
    8. To Format the Partition or Disk as a NTFS File System
    NOTE:
    This would be good for using with Windows 7 or Vista for example.
    A) In the elevated command prompt, type format fs=ntfs quick and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
    NOTE:
    Having quick added at the end of the command will do a quick format instead of a full format on the new blank RAW partition (step 6) to make it a new partition.
    B) Go to step 10.
    9. To Format the Partition or Disk as a FAT32 File System
    NOTE:
    This would be good for using with a USB key drive for example.
    A) In the elevated command prompt, type format fs=fat32 quick and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
    NOTE:
    Having quick added at the end of the command will do a quick format instead of a full format on the new blank RAW partition (step 6) to make it a new partition.
    10. When it is finished formatting, type exit in the elevated command prompt and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
    11. Close the elevated command prompt.
    12. The new primary partition has now been created. You can now see the new partition in Computer with a drive letter.

    Note:


    This method can also be used in Windows Xp and Windows Vista

  • Installing and updating drivers in 7


    This guide is broken up into a number of parts:
    Intro to drivers
    Driver guidelines
    Finding & updating drivers
    Using Driver Sweeper
    Device Manger updates
    INTRO:
    Drivers instruct Windows exactly what hardware you have and what it does, along with any specific features. Manufacturers usually release new drivers frequently to keep their products updated and add new features. Performance is also usually improved, so it is absolutely vital to keep all your drivers updated. Use a driver sweeper for some drivers too.
      
    GUIDELINES:
    Install them in safe mode if you can. Otherwise, use safe mode if a normal 7 install fails. If you’ve built a new pc, then you’ll most likely install the drivers in 7, not safe mode.
    Don’t bother with driver programs. Get them yourself. Do you trust a random app to stick a driver in the right place and ensure its installed correctly on top of a driver install? Use them only – only – if you really can’t find drivers and then uninstall them.
    Reboot. Always reboot after each driver. Even better after you install them, reboot again later in the day.
    Make sure it matches your hardware and for laptops, the model, and whether its x86 or x64.
    Create a folder in your browser with links to your hardware and check this once a week.
    Use Driver Sweeper for your graphics card and sound drivers. This will clean up any leftover junk in safe mode.
    Try and find WHQL – Windows Hardware Quality Labs – drivers that have been certified by Microsoft.
    Keep a backup of the latest drivers on an external hard disk in case 7 dies. If you use a backed up image, then recent drivers are available.
    FINDING & UPDATING DRIVERS:
    Finding drivers is usually easy. First you need to find out what is in your pc. I’d recommend HWInfo32. Install it and open it. Note the chipset and BIOS type/date then close the summary window. Then open up the tabs:
    The drivers you want to update:
    Chipset
    BIOS
    NIC (Network Interface Device) for Ethernet and Wireless.
    Sound
    Graphics Card
    DVD drive firmware if necessary
    Anything proprietary if necessary, such as Webcam etc.
    Once you know the drivers, google any with the manufacturer such as nvidia driver and then bookmark the link in a folder. Download the drivers and then reboot after each one. If you have any problems open a thread in the drivers sub-forum or PM me. The BIOS will be from the PC manufacturer or the motherboard manufacturer and chipset most likely from AMD, Intel, Nvidia, or SiS:
    AMD
    SIS
    NVIDIA
    INTEL
    DRIVER SWEEPER:
    Use Driver Sweeper if you are updating some drivers. Driver Sweeper is a program that will remove leftovers from key drivers, namely graphics and sound. The first thing to do is to ensure that you have new and possibly old drivers on hand. Also, if you have 2 graphics cards – I have Intel and Nvidia in my ultraportable – don’t do this. The manufacturer will most likely have different instructions. Otherwise, this should work, along with SLI/Crossfire. Uninstall the drivers from control panel with the exception of ATI drivers. If you have ATI run the new installer, uninstall the old drivers, reboot, and then use Driver Sweeper. Reboot into 7 again and then re-run the Catalyst installer, this time choosing to install the new driver. For anything else uninstall anything other related like control panels. Reboot at the end:

    Reboot into safe mode and then run driver sweeper.

    Select Analyse and then clean – choose the right drivers you want removed! It will be all of them, just select the right ones above. Reboot once more into safe mode and install the newest drivers. Then reboot into Windows. Use driver sweeper if it can clean up any of your drivers. This will most likely be sound and display, but the app is updated and some more support will come for other bits of hardware.
    DEVICE MANAGER UPDATES:
    In device manager, right click the device and select update, try the internet and then try choosing from installed drivers. Also, use the Unknown Devices app from Halfdone Development to identify any hardware (usually) that has a question mark.
    Otherwise install any drivers over old ones unless you find different instructions for the piece of hardware. The .txt readme will have instructions or the site. Some installers uninstall old drivers, tell you to reboot, then run the installer again to install the new ones. After you install graphics drivers re-run the Windows Experience Index assessment. If you follow these simple steps your PC will run better and driver problems shouldn’t exist.. If you can’t get any 7drivers, then it might time for new hardware that has support.

  • How to Lock a Folder with a Password without Any Software in Windows 7


    This Article will help you in locking any folder without any third party software which will also prevent any virus infection due to third party software’s. This can also be used on Windows XP, windows Vista, Windows 7
    1. Make a new folder ( name it as you like ):
    2. Inside this folder make a ( TXT ) file & copy inside it this (the entire thing):
    3. Copy and paste this code inside the New Text Document:
    Code:
    Quote:
    Quote: cls
    @ECHO OFF
    title Folder Private
    if EXIST “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}” goto UNLOCK
    if NOT EXIST Private goto MDLOCKER
    :CONFIRM
    echo Are you sure you want to lock the folder(Y/N)
    set/p “cho=>”
    if %cho%==Y goto LOCK
    if %cho%==y goto LOCK
    if %cho%==n goto END
    if %cho%==N goto END
    echo Invalid choice.
    goto CONFIRM
    :LOCK
    ren Private “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
    attrib +h +s “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
    echo Folder locked
    goto End
    :UNLOCK
    echo Enter password to unlock folder
    set/p “pass=>”
    if NOT %pass%== password here goto FAIL
    attrib -h -s “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
    ren “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}” Private
    echo Folder Unlocked successfully
    goto End
    :FAIL
    echo Invalid password
    goto end
    :MDLOCKER
    md Private
    echo Private created successfully
    goto End
    :End
    4. After you copy the Command code, go to the bold words (or try using shortcut- CTRL+F and type password to locate the line) you will find this word : password here (Change it with any password u like.) is :
    eg: if NOT %pass%== example1234 goto FAIL
    //so your password here becomes example1234 .//
    5. After that go to Save as… & name this file as “locker.bat “. Be sure to change the “Save as type” from “text” to “All Files” :
    6. Now back to the folder & u will find a ( LOCKER ) commanding (locker.bat). Double Click on it & you will find a new folder (Private ):
    7. Now copy what you want in this “private Folder” & after that come out of the folder, and Double click on locker again. It will open and ask if you want to lock your folder? Y/N ?
    8. Type Y. your private folder will disappear.
    9. If you want to UNLOCK your folder ,go to (locker) & type your pass and you will see your private folder.
    10. Enter the password and hit “Enter”.
    Note
    It not only hides the folder, but hide all files… and try opening it without entering password, it’l take you to the control panel…
    Also, if you want to store files on your Pen-Drive, you can use this script. No Software Required.
    Incase you delete your Locker file (just in case), then you can make a new one (but with the same password) and open it from that.
    Alternatively, you can keep this locker file somewhere else, and when you want to open your folder, only then bring it back to that place.

    This can also be used on Windows XP, windows Vista and Windows 7

  • No sound in Windows 7

    Introduction
    This tutorial is designed to help you identify and fix common sound problems in Windows, including no sound coming from your speakers or headphones. This tutorial doesn’t cover sound problems related to specific programs. Sound problems can be caused by cables that aren’t connected properly, corrupt drivers, incompatible drivers, sound settings, missing updates, and problems with your sound card.
    How to use this tutorial
    For best results, complete each step before moving on to the next one. Check for sound after each step before going to the next step.
    Step 1: Check hardware

    Many sound problems are caused by hardware that isn’t set up property. Here’s some information about how to check your sound card, verify that cables are plugged in to the correct locations, make sure the hardware has power, and check the volume.
    Check your sound card
    Check to make sure your computer has a sound card, or sound processor, and it’s working properly.
    Do one of the following:
    If you’re running Windows 7 or Windows Vista, click the Start button , click Control Panel, click System and Security, and then, under System, click Device Manager.   If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
    If you’re running Windows XP, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click System, click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.   If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
    Double-click Sound, video and game controllers to expand that category. If a sound card is listed, you have one installed. If no sound card is listed, check the information that came with your computer to see if there’s supposed to be a sound card installed. If there should be a sound card installed, you’ll need to install one. For more information, see Install or remove a sound card.
    Notes
    If you think you have a sound card installed, but you don’t see it under the Sound, video and game controllers category, expand the Other devices category and check any devices listed there.
    Laptops don’t usually have sound cards. Instead, they have integrated sound processors, which appear in the same category in Device Manager.
    If there’s a yellow question mark next to the name of the sound card in Device Manager, there might be a problem.
    Right-click the name of the sound card, and then click Properties.
    Click the General tab, and then look in the Device status box to identify problems with the sound card.
    If there’s a problem, you might need a new driver for your sound card. For more information, see “Step 3: Update drivers” in this tutorial.
    Check if the cables are connected properly

    Check to make sure all of the cables are plugged in to the correct locations, which might include speakers and headphones, HDMI cables, USB audio devices, and other audio devices.
    Check power and volume
    If you have speakers, make sure they’re plugged in to a working power source and turned on.
    Make sure that your speaker volume or headphone volume isn’t muted or turned down too low. This is particularly important for laptops, which often have small speakers that can be hard to hear.
    Windows 7 and Windows Vista
    Click the Start button , click Control Panel, click Hardware and Sound, and then, under Sound, click Adjust system volume.
    Move the slider up to increase the volume.
    Make sure the Mute button isn’t turned on. If the button looks like this:  , muting is turned off. If the button looks like this: , click it to turn off muting.
    Notes
    Some laptops have an external volume control. If you’re using a laptop, check the external volume control to make sure it’s not turned all the way down.
    In some cases, you might have several volume controls to check. For example, if you’re using Windows Media Player, it has its own volume control; Windows has a volume control; and your external speakers have their own volume control. If any of these volume controls are set to their lowest setting, you will not hear any sound.
    Step 2: Use a troubleshooter
    A troubleshooter is an automated tool that can find and automatically fix some problems with your computer. Different versions of Windows use troubleshooters in different ways.
    Run the first troubleshooter to diagnose and fix common sound playback issues, and then try to play an audio file. If the problem isn’t fixed, try the next troubleshooter to diagnose and fix common problems with hardware and devices.
    Trouble Shooter 1
    Trouble Shooter 2
    Step 3: Update drivers
    In order for Windows to recognize your sound card or sound processor, you must find and install a compatible driver. Most sound cards and sound processors require driver software to work properly. Outdated, incompatible, or corrupted sound card drivers can disrupt communication between the computer and the sound card.
    If you recently upgraded from one version of Windows to another, it’s possible that the current sound card driver was designed for the previous version of Windows. If you’ve had recent power outages, viruses, or other computer problems, it’s possible that the drivers have become corrupted. Downloading and installing the latest sound card driver for your sound card can resolve these types of problems.
    Here are three ways to find and install a driver:
    Use Windows Update. You might need to set Windows Update to automatically download and install recommended updates. Installing any important, recommended, and optional updates can update system features and other software that might help to fix your sound problems.
    Install software from the device manufacturer. For example, if your device came with a disc, that disc might contain software that installs a driver for the device.
    Download and install the driver yourself. You can search for a driver on the manufacturer’s website. Try this if Windows Update can’t find a driver for your device and the device didn’t come with software that installs a driver.

  • How to Create a Homegroup in Windows 7


    HomeGroup makes your job easy to share pictures, music, documents, videos, and printers with other people on your home network. This article will show you how to create a homegroup in Windows 7.
    Note
    Computers must be running Windows 7 to participate in a homegroup. HomeGroup is available in all editions of Windows 7. In the Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic editions, you can join a homegroup, but you can’t create one.
    If your computer belongs to a domain network, you can join a homegroup but you can’t create one. You can access files and resources on other homegroup computers, but you can’t share your own files and resources with the homegroup.
    All computers that will be on the homegroup must have (be on) the same workgroup or domain name.
    You can create or join a Homegroup with a virtual machine in Windows Virtual PC.
    Warning
    You will need to have these Services set as below. They are by default.
    DNS Client – Started and Automatic
    HomeGroup Listener – Started and Manual
    HomeGroup Provider – Started and Manual
    SSDP Discovery – Started and Manual
    UPnP Device Host – Started and Manual
    Function Discovery Provider Host – Started and Manual
    Function Discovery Resource Publication – Started and Automatic
    Network List Service – Started and Manual
    Server – Started and Automatic
    Here’s How:
    NOTE:  
    The homegroup created here as an example was done between a laptop (joined homegroup) with a wireless connection through a wireless router and a desktop (created homegroup in) connected to the same router’s ethernet port via CAT6 cable.
    1. Make sure that all computers that will be on the home network have the date and time in sync.
    2. Make sure that the computer is set to have a home network location type. You will not be able to create a homegroup from any other network locations.
    3. If you are using a wireless network through a wireless router, then check to make sure that WLAN Partition is disabled in the router’s wireless settings. When it is enabled, it prevents associated wireless clients from communicating with each other.
    4. Open the Control Panel (all items view), and click on the Network and Sharing Center icon.
    A) Click on the Change adapter settings link. 
    B) Right click on your network connection adapter, and click on Properties. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes. Make sure that the items below are checked, and click on OK. (see screenshot below)
    File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
    Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)
    Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
    C) Click on the back arrow button (left arrow) in Network Connections to return to the Network and Sharing Center. (See screenshot above)
    D) Click on the Change advanced sharing settings link.
    E) Make sure that the Home or Work (current profile) settings are set as they are below for the ones pointed out with the red arrows, then click on save changes. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes. 
    5. In the Network and Sharing Center, click on the Choose homegroup and sharing options link. 

    6. Click on the Create a homegroup button. (see screenshot below)
    NOTE: 
     If a homegroup already exists (already created) on your home network, then Windows 7 will ask if you would like to Join Now instead of creating a new one.
     
    7. Select (check) what libraries and printers that you want to share from this computer with any other computer that joins this homegroup, then click on Next. (see screenshot below)
    8. Write down and/or print this password down. You will need to have and use this password to join a computer to this homegroup. Click on Finish. (See screenshot below)
    NOTE: The password is case sensitive, so it will need to be typed exactly as it appears here when used to join a computer to the homegroup.
    9. Close the HomeGroup window. (see screenshot below)
    10. You will now need to add other computers to the homegroup by joining them so that you can access shared libraries and printers between them.

  • Customize Windows 7 Search Settings

    Customizing What and How to Search


    You can find all the Search settings for Windows Search on the “Folder 
    and Search Options” window in Windows Explorer. Follow these steps to cus-
    tomize where Windows Search looks for files/folders:



    1. Choose Start | Documents. In the upper-left area of the window, click the down-arrow next to Organize and then choose “Folder and Search Options”. Select the “Search” tab as shown in the image below:































    2.  On the Search tab, there are three separate sections:
    What to search:
    – Here you can specify whether you would like the search software to use the indexing service’s data or all data, on-the-fly. By default, Windows Search will search both filenames and contents of indexed files but just filenames of files not in the index. If you don’t want to use the indexer at all, you can work with other options.


    How to search:
    There are 4 different settings: 
    1. The ability to search subfolders, 
    2. Report results with partial matches.
    3. Turn on natural language searches, and 
    4. Disable searching from the index.


    You should mainly focus on the sub-folder search and natural language search options. These features are usually the two that can be used as tweaks, the most. First, to speed up searches, un-check “Include sub-folders in search results when searching in file folders” and then also check “Use natural language search” option so that easier searches can be performed. For example, if you want to find e-mails from a person, you normally have to type Kind:email from:person in the Search box. When you turn on natural language search, however, you can type email from person instead and get the same results. 


    When searching non-indexed locations 
    This specifies what to do with compressed files and system folders that are not indexed or when index search is turned off. I leave these blank to speed up searches, 
    but I strongly suggest that you do not turn on the compressed file option; 
    it will cause your searches to take forever.


    When you are finished tweaking the search options, you would need to press OK to save your changes. A restart may be required. 

  • How do I configure System Restore in Windows 7?

    System Restore helps you restore your computer’s system files to an point back in time. It helps you undo system changes to your computer without affecting your personal data. It is worthy to note that System restore affects Windows system files, programs, registry values, scripts, batch files, and other types of executables. System Restore in Windows 7 and Vista works a bit differently than it does in Windows XP in that it uses the Shadow Copy feature in which it creates a snapshot of your drive at a certain point of time.

    The System Restore in Windows 7 needs a minimum of 300 MB of the drive space of the hard drive, by a general rule. In Windows XP however, the minimum size required is 200 MB. Depending on the size of the partition it is usually a good idea to either increase or decrease the allocated space for system restore. Here is how this is done:
    To access System Restore Configuration, Click on Start and then right click on Computer and then select Properties from the context menu. 





    Then click on System Protection to display the System Restore configuration menu.

    system properties 400x445 Configuring System Restore In Windows 7
    From here, you can control the way System Restore will work or behave in Windows 7. It will furthermore display the drives that are currently configured to use System Restore and those that are not. 


    You can select a drive or partition and click on the Configure button to get detailed configuration information about it. This includes the percentage that is currently allocated for System Restore in MBs along with the current usage.
    windows 7 system restore 400x448 Configuring System Restore In Windows 7
    It is possible to change the percentage that Windows can allocate for system protection to free up disk space for other data, simply by dragging the slider above. By default it is 4% in Windows 7. It is also possible to delete previous system restore points and to change the restore settings. 


    By default System Restore can save system settings and previous versions of files. You can however choose to restore only the previous versions of files as shown in the figure above.


    You can also selectively turn System Restore off for a specific drive or partition. This was also possible in Windows XP