Posts tagged Windows 7

CD or DVD drive not found in Windows 7

Nov06
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Clark

If your CD\DVD drive is identifed by your BIOS but not by Windows 7 then try the following:

  • Run regedit.exe
  • Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ControlClass
  • Delete both UpperFilters and LowerFilters in the right-hand pane
  • NB: Leave both the UpperFilters.bak and LowerFilters.bak entries

If this doesn’t work then try resetting the drive letter using the following:

  • Run the Disk Management tool
  • Choose ‘Create and format hard disk partitions’
  • If the DVD drive is present then right click it and select ‘Change Drive Letter and Paths’
  • Click ‘Change’ and select a new letter
  • If the CDDVD drive is now visible in Explorer you can change the letter back
  • If it is still not visible then reboot and it should appear
Posted in Windows

Perform a clean install with Windows 7 Upgrade

Oct28
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Clark

Paul Thurott and friend have worked out how to do a clean Windows 7 installation whilst only using the Windows 7 upgrade disc.

The instructions are as follows:

  • Perform a clean installation using the Upgrade disc.
  • Install all pending Windows Updates.
  • Open regedit.exe from the Start Menu.
  • Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/
  • Change MediaBootInstall from ’1′ to ’0′.
  • Open the Start Menu again and type ‘cmd’ — use ctrl+shift+enter to run it as an elevated-permissions user.
  • Finally, type slmgr /rearm — and press enter.

You can now reboot and activate Windows 7 by running the Activate Windows utility, type in your product key and it should now work.

Posted in Windows

Grand Theft Auto IV save game location

Oct26
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Clark

In order to backup your save games for Grand Theft Auto IV on the PC you will need to backup two different folders, this is due to the game using the Games for Windows Live system.

Windows XP

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Rockstar Games

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\MicrosoftXLive

Windows Vista/7

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Rockstar Games

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\MicrosoftXLive

NB: These are the default folder locations, if you have a different location it can be found by typing %LOCALAPPDATA% into Windows Explorer.

Posted in Video Games - Tagged , ,

Assassin’s Creed save game location

Oct23
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Clark

The Assassin’s Creed save games can be found in the following locations:

Windows XP

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Ubisoft\Assassin's Creed\Saved Games

Windows Vista/7

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Ubisoft\Assassin's Creed\Saved Games

These are the default locations, if they are not in the respective location you can try searching for assassin.ini as they should be in the same folder.

Posted in Video Games - Tagged , ,

Hanging at 62% when you upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7

Oct22
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Clark

If when attempting to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 your installation hangs at 62% this could be due to the iphlpsvc service and Microsoft offers the following fix:

  1. Reboot the computer; this will cause a rollback to Windows Vista.
  2. Click Start, and right-click Computer.
  3. Click Properties, and then click Advanced System Settings.
  4. Click Environment Variables.
  5. Under System Variables, click New, and then press ENTER
  6. Type in the following variable information:
    Variable Name: MIG_UPGRADE_IGNORE_PLUGINS 
    Variable value: IphlpsvcMigPlugin.dll
  7. Then Restart Setup.

Note This workaround only applies to the iphlpsvc service hangs

Microsoft Support article

Posted in Windows - Tagged

Windows 7 disk defragmenter

Oct20
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Clark

Windows 7 has a new updated disk defragmenter when compared to Windows Vista. The disk defragmenter utility in Vista was rightly criticised for not giving enough user feedback, this has been fixed slightly in that now the user can see how fragmented the individual disks on the computer are.

Windows 7 disk defragmenter

Posted in Windows

Map a network drive in Windows 7

Oct10
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Clark

Mapping a network drive in Windows 7 is similar to Windows Vista, firstly you need to navigate to the Computer window in Windows Explorer, this should display a list of your hard disks and removable drives in a similar style than below. You then need to click on the ‘Map network drive’ button to start the wizard.

Map network drive button in Windows 7

Here you then select the drive you want it to appear as and the folder to share it as, you can also configure options regarding reconnecting to the drive at logon and/or to connect using different network credentials. Completing the wizard will add the drive in your Computer window in Windows Explorer.

Map network drive wizard in Windows 7

Posted in Windows

Make older programs run in Windows 7

Oct06
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Clark

Windows 7 has many built in backwards compatibility features but a new one is the Program Compatibility troubleshooter. To run the troubleshooter follow the following steps:

  • Open the Program Compatibility troubleshooter by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start buttonand then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type troubleshooter, and then click Troubleshooting. Under Programs, click Run programs made for previous versions of Windows.

  • Follow the instructions in the troubleshooter.

If you cannot install a program, insert the installation disc for the program and, using the troubleshooter, browse to the program’s setup file, usually called Setup.exe, Install.exe, or something similar. The troubleshooter is not designed to work on programs that have an .msi file name extension.

You can also open the Program Compatibility troubleshooter by right-clicking a program’s icon or shortcut and then clicking Troubleshoot compatibility.

Posted in Windows

Windows 7 system requirements

Oct05
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Clark

Core system requirements:

  • 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  • 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
  • 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
  • DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Additional requirements to use certain features:

  • Internet access (fees may apply)
  • Depending on resolution, video playback may require additional memory and advanced graphics hardware
  • For some Windows Media Center functionality a TV tuner and additional hardware may be required
  • Windows Touch and Tablet PCs require specific hardware
  • HomeGroup requires a network and PCs running Windows 7
  • DVD/CD authoring requires a compatible optical drive
  • BitLocker requires Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2
  • BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive
  • Windows XP Mode requires an additional 1 GB of RAM, an additional 15 GB of available hard disk space, and a processor capable of hardware virtualization with Intel VT or AMD-V turned on
  • Music and sound require audio output

Product functionality and graphics may vary based on your system configuration. Some features may require advanced or additional hardware.

Posted in Windows

Restore the Quick Launch toolbar in Windows 7

Oct03
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Stuart Clark

One of the first things I noticed when I installed Windows 7 was the missing Quick Launch toolbar, this is mainly because the functionality has now been integrated into the main taskbar but if you desperately need it back you can follow the steps below:

  • Right-click the taskbar and select Toolbars > New Toolbar
  • In the folder selection dialog, enter the following string and click Select Folder:
    %userprofile%AppDataRoamingMicrosoftInternet ExplorerQuick Launch

    • The quick launch toolbar has now been setup, to make it look like the old version you can remove the title and text associated with the icons by first unlocking the taskbar and then right-clicking the quick launch toolbar and deselecting ‘Show text’ and ‘Show title’. Whilst the taskbar is unlocked you can also rearrange to put it in your preferred place on the taskbar.

Posted in Windows
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