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Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts

Sunday, 1 December 2013

Microsoft releases VideoLoops: A GIF creator tool with progressive dynamism

Posted on 12:12 by Unknown
Quite recently, Microsoft has come up with an interesting application, which enables you to transform a short video into a super-smooth GIF loop. The software named VideoLoops works in such a way that it studies the pattern of the video in depth and then elongates the loop by breaking and adding up frames to it. Microsoft Research has explained further that VideoLoops identifies the motion of the video and then re-assembles additional frames in order to create a ‘temporary consistency’.
VideoLoops

VideoLoops from Microsoft Research

The software creates a video loop, where the motion of the objects has been captured to create a perfect loop, resulting into a flawless video. It will allow you to extract a 5 second looping video from a non-looping input video. The software’s proficiency has been much discussed by Redmond in the past few months; in fact a paper and a video were released to describe the application’s features and usage in detail.
The process behind the development of this software is termed as “Automated video looping with a progressive dynamism”, which simply means, analyzing a video to derive or separate the movements of the elements it contains. Further, this analysis comprises of identification of objects moving in a slow and fast speed, followed by optimizing the re-assembled elements to create an impeccable five-second clip.
Just imagine that with a single pixel or a very small region of pixels, moving with the same pace, VideoLoops is capable of creating a fully-fledged animated loop in a rhythmic fashion, and there’s your 5-second video. That’s quite a breath of fresh air from the conventional animated GIFs, whose life depends upon the number of frames captured.


Try it out for yourself, by downloading it from Microsoft Research.


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Posted in Microsoft, Software | No comments

Saturday, 30 November 2013

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

Posted on 09:38 by Unknown
Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the Week
If you celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday, no doubt you're feeling a little overstuffed and loaded down today. Give your smartphone the same feeling by downloading some sweet new apps. And since today is Brown Friday, these apps will give you something to do while you're warming up the royal throne.

Multi-Platform Updates

Showtime Anytime

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the WeekExpand
Newly revamped for Android and iOS, Showtime Anytime lets subscribers on most of the big cable networks watch unlimited Showtime on-demand programming on any device. Even better, the free app lets you watch live Showtime programming on either East or West Coast schedule. [Android] [iOS]

Android

Amazon

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the WeekExpand
Amazon's shopping app now lets you browse any of Amazon's worldwide sites. With a barcode scanner that lets you sneakily compare prices between Amazon and your brick-and-mortar store, easy in-app purchasing, and even a button to call Amazon's customer service hotline, this app brings the Everything Store right to your pocket. [Free]

Duolingo

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the WeekExpand
Knowledge should be free, right? Duolingo sticks to that ideal with a cost-free and ad-free language learning tool that's just been completely revamped. Teaching you Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and English in a fun, game-based way, the newest app has smoother graphics and, at 5MB, takes up 1/3rd the space of the old version. [Free]

SidePlayer

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the WeekExpand
If you're on a device that hasn't gotten Android 4.4 KitKat just yet, you probably can't swipe your audio controls into a fullscreen game or app. SidePlayer gives you an easy-to-access toolbar to adjust volume, pause or change tracks on a variety of music players. Upgrade to the Pro Version for $1.75 t0 unlock custom positioning and animation. [Free]

Doctor Who: Legacy

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the Week 

Hot on the heels of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special, this adventure game lets you pick your favorite Doctor, companions and allies to fight enemies from episodes spanning all 50 years. Tiny Rebel Games promises daily character and episode updates through December, so hop in your TARDIS and start adventuring! [Free]

iOS

TimeShutter

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the WeekExpand
Time lapses are a ton of fun, but the best ones are the most painstakingly crafted labors of love. TimeShutter makes it easy with tools to help you align, crop and overlay frames with a few finger swipes. You can even export the final product in video or GIF format, so nobody will be without your time-bending genius. [Free]

Reeder 2

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the WeekExpand
Reeder's handy client for newsfeeds including Feedbin, Feedly and Readability updates with new themes, an expanded list of sharing services and smoother, cleaner navigation. With new ways to sort subscriptions and the ability to work with your Safari Reading List, Reeder makes sure you'll never be without something interesting to read. [$5]

Tweetbot 3

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the WeekExpand
Beloved among diehard tweeters, Tweetbot updated this week with a new Night Theme that manually or automatically switches for low light reading. Version 3.2 also brings easy, single-swipe account switching for those with multiple Twitter personalities, and the iOS 7 design looks as good as ever. [$3]

Yonder

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the WeekExpand
Sort of like Yelp for outdoor adventuring, Yonder helps you find great places to hike, kayak, camp, mountain bike and more, with geolocated images and videos chronicling over 20,000 destinations worldwide. The complete iOS 7 redesign gives slick, streamlined design, and the social side lets you follow the activities of fellow outdoor enthusiasts and shares directly to Facebook and Twitter. [Free]

Windows Phone

6snap

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the WeekExpand
This sharp looking Snapchat app for WP does all the things you expect from Snapchat, sending self-destructing pics and videos to friends and letting you build a storyline. It also adds a fun live tile to your screen, and takes great advantage of Windows Phone's photo muscle. [Free]

Super 8

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the WeekExpand
The Start menu is a hallmark Windows feature, and Super 8 brings it to your Windows Phone. When you've got quick one-touch access to your apps, tools and settings, you'll spend less time swiping around your live tiles and more time doing whatever else it is you do with your phone. [Free]

Lockmix

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the WeekExpand
Lockmix brings livetile-style widget buttons to your lock screen. You can arrange, resize and configure the widgets the same way you do on your start screen, and they'll automatically update with new info. With an ever-expanding list of widgets, you can customize your lock screen to your heart's content. [Free]

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Posted in Android, iOS, Microsoft, Smartphone, Windows Phone | No comments

Friday, 29 November 2013

VMWare Fusion 6 Opens Windows On Your Mac

Posted on 11:46 by Unknown
VMWare Fusion 6 Opens Windows On Your Mac
While Apple provides Bootcamp, a built-in OS X application for installing Windows on your Mac, the virtualization program VMWare Fusion 6 ($59.99) allows users to run Windows without restarting their Mac, which Bootcamp requires. This is why we have added Fusion 6 to our Best of Mac page.
On occasion I use or test Windows only programs like Dragon Naturally Speaking, MarkdownPad, and DesignPro 5, and I can easily do so by firing up VMWare Fusion and it, in turn, launches Windows inside a separate window on my Mac desktop. There’s little or no hassle using Fusion, and in fact the only learning curve may be how to get around the Windows platform.

Getting Started

VMWare Fusion (download here for free trial or upgrade purposes) can run on any 64-bit capable Intel Mac running OS X 10.7 or later, with a minimum of 4GB of RAM, 750MB of disk space for Fusion itself, and another 5 gigs for the virtual machine. Fusion can also run other operating systems, including Linux and Ubuntu. The VMWare.com site provides step-by-step instructions for installing Windows 8 using Fusion, or for upgrading from VMWare Fusion 5 to 6.

Important Features

If you’re a long time Mac user like me, you might not be too familiar with the Windows platform, and running the OS on your Mac may feel odd at first. You can download our free Getting Started Guide to Windows 8 guide to learn more about the platform.
Using VMWare Fusion, I run Windows on my Mac as if I’m running any Mac application. Fusion opens Windows in a separate application, and all of the OS’ features are made available.
VMWare Fusion-8
The start page consists of a handful of default Windows applications and features, including Sky Drive, the Windows Store, and the different media folders. You can control-click on an app to unpin it from the start page, as well as click on the “All apps” button in the pop-up menu bar and pin an application to the start page.
VMWare Fusion 15

Viewing Windows

Fusion allows you to view the Windows OS either in a separate window, full screen, or through what is called Unity. The separate window view allows you to use Windows applications right alongside your Mac programs. You can also drag files from your Mac Finder onto the Windows desktop, and vice versa, as well as copy and paste text between platforms.
Fusion_copy
Note: If dragging files to or from Windows doesn’t work, click on Virtual Machine > Install VMWare Tools in the menu bar. For some reason these tools did not install by default for me when I upgraded to version 6.
If you want even better access to Windows applications, you can enable the Unity feature. In Unity mode, the Fusion window and Windows desktop spaces disappear, and opened Windows applications appear squarely on your Mac desktop right alongside OS X applications. While working in Unity mode, you may forget you’re working on the Windows platform. To exit Unity, click on the Fusion icon in the dock and deselect View > Unity in the Fusion menu bar.

Other Features

What’s great about Fusion is that it provides full access to the Windows platform without having to exit OS X. Fusion even connects to the printers connected to your Mac so you don’t have to open Windows documents on your Mac to get the job done.
If you need to keep Fusion open and accessible throughout the day, you can select to suspend or pause Fusion. The suspend button is located in the Fusion toolbar for quick access.
VMWare Fusion-10
You might be surprised to know that the OS X voice-to-text feature also works in Windows via Fusion; click on Edit > Start Dictation.

Bottom Line

VMWare Fusion is fairly easy to set up and it pretty much tucks out of the way while you work with your Windows software. If you have never used Fusion before, take it for a test drive to see how the Windows applications you plan to use perform in the virtualization setting – you might be pleasantly surprised!
Download: VMWare Fusion 6 ($59.99) 

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Posted in Apple, Microsoft | No comments

Thursday, 28 November 2013

Got a Defective Xbox? Here’s How Microsoft Will Make it Up To You!

Posted on 08:33 by Unknown
xbox-one-hardware-head
As with all new console launches, especially when so many units in total are sold, a fair number of defective models have found their way into unlucky buyer’s hands, and in the case of the Xbox One, the symptom is a Blu Ray drive that makes a horrendous grindy noise, and in most cases with said noise, the inability to play physical copies of games.
While things like 1 year warranties exist for this exact reason, the fact of the matter is situations like this are rough near launch time due to such high demand and low supply of systems, and thankfully Microsoft has taken steps to make it up to those few unlucky customers the best way they can for the time being: Free digital games!


Anyone with a defective system and has been in contact with Microsoft Support is being given their choice of one of four digital games, meaning they can play them without the need of their defective disc drive for the time being, until the unit can be properly fixed/exchanged. Available choices include Dead Rising 3, Ryse: Son of Rome, Forza Motorsport 5, and Zoo Tycoon, all of which are currently exclusive titles to the system. While getting a defective system in the first place of course is terrible, it’s good to see Microsoft taking steps to insure that their loyal day one purchasers are still able to play and enjoy their system right away.
Source: Tech Spot 
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Posted in Microsoft, TechNews, XBOX | No comments

Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Microsoft giving a free game to owners of Xbox Ones with hardware problems

Posted on 05:28 by Unknown
Microsoft giving a free game to owners of Xbox Ones with hardware problems
While Microsoft has sold a ton of Xbox Ones, not all of them are functioning as their owners hoped they would. It turns out that some of the consoles are having problems with their optical drives -- some eat discs, while others reject them while a series of ominous sounds emanate from within. The good news is, should you be among those unfortunate souls, Microsoft is aware of the problem and is doing its best to make amends, including giving some affected parties a free game. Polygon reports that Xbox customer care has offered a game as recompense for some faulty consoles, and will let folks choose to download Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome or Zoo Tycoon for free. We reached out to Microsoft about its generosity, and here's what the company has to say on the matter:
While a replacement console is on its way, we want to ensure our advance exchange customers can stay in the game. We will provide each of them with a free digital download of one of the launch titles published by Microsoft Studios.

Via: Polygon Windows Phone Central
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Posted in Microsoft, TechNews, XBOX | No comments

Monday, 25 November 2013

Recuva Data Recovery Software: Recover deleted files & folders

Posted on 11:46 by Unknown
Do you want to recover deleted files, folders and data which you may have deleted even from the Recycle Bin? Then what you need is a good data recovery software. Here are a few freeware which may help you get back the lost file which you have have accidentally deleted.
Recuva recover deleted files Recuva Data Recovery Software: Recover deleted files & folders

Recover deleted files & folders

Recuva is a free data recovery software that recovers files deleted from your Windows computer, Recycle Bin, digital camera card, or MP3 player.
As soon as you realize you have deleted some files and wish to recover them, stop using the computer and install and run a file undelete software.
Features of Recuva:
  • Undelete files on your computer. Deleted a file by mistake? Recuva brings lost files on your computer, USB drive, camera or iPod.
  • Recovery from damaged or formatted disks. Even if you’ve formatted a drive so that it looks blank, Recuva can still find your files on it.
  • Recover deleted emails. Emptied your email trash and need it back? Recuva’s got you covered with full support for Microsoft Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, or Windows Live Mail.
  • Recover deleted iPod music. Deleted music from your iPod or MP3 player? No problem, Recuva will get this back for you along with any additional track data.
  • Restore unsaved Word documents. Did Microsoft Word crash or did you forget to save that important Word document. No problem with Recuva! As it can intelligently rebuild Word documents from their temporary files.
  • Quick-Start Wizard. If you need your files back right away without fiddling with options, Recuva’s Quick-Start Wizard is the answer.
  • Deep Scan. Recuva can find most files within a minute. Or, set the Deep Scan to look for more deeply-buried results.
  • Securely delete files you want to erase forever. Want to protect your deleted files? Recuva also allows you to permanently erase any traces of deleted files.

Recuva Data Recovery Software free download

You can download Recuva from its home page.
There are some other freeware data recovery software too, like Pandora Recovery, EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard Free Edition, PC-Inspector File Recovery, NTFS Reader, Glary UnDelete, Avira UnErase Personal and Restoration, which you may want to check out.     


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Posted in Microsoft, Software | No comments

Saturday, 16 November 2013

Why is Google willing to cooperate and compete simultaneously with Apple, but not willing to do so with Microsoft?

Posted on 02:35 by Unknown
Why is Google willing to cooperate and compete simultaneously with Apple, but not willing to do so with Microsoft?I remember the sunny spring days during Google I/O 2013, the super smart developers swarming every event, absorbing information and hammering out code on their laptops. I also remember the keynote event, and the lengthy details that were shared about what Google had in store for the developer community.

Then Google’s CEO, Larry Page took the stage and shared a vision of what he hopes can be tackled with technology and bringing people together. Okay, some of it was utopian, maybe even naïve, but none of it was fluff and he genuinely believed in what he was talking about.

Perhaps the most poignant remark he made during his 45 minutes on stage, was as follows, “Every story I read about Google is about us versus some other company, or something else, and I really don’t find that interesting. We should be building things that don’t exist.” Later he noted, “Being negative is not how we make progress.”

Hear hear Mr. Page!! Since then, we have seen exactly one accomplishment when it comes to the ongoing bickering between Google and Microsoft, a YouTube app for Windows Phone, and even then, it is not a true "first party" app. The rest, still does not exist.  Google goes out of its way to avoid any interaction from Microsoft. It could be any number of reasons, but I will focus on the age old cornerstone that drives people to madness: money.

There may be some legitimate arguments here, but this fight isn't as engaging as the Apple vs. Samsung drama
There may be some legitimate arguments here, but this fight isn't as engaging as the Apple vs. Samsung drama
Money is also the reason why Google should not be stonewalling its development into the Microsoft realm. As I noted in some musings about Motorola, Google has plenty of money, no doubt about it. However, shareholders that are playing in the thousand-dollar-per-share arena want to see real returns. That means revenues. Google makes its money from ad and data mining of traffic that uses its services, up to, and including people that use Internet Explorer to access their Gmail, Google search, et al.

We know that Microsoft makes a hefty sum of money from the patent fees for intellectual property that is in use on the Android operating system. If that is some deep rooted source of resentment, then Google again needs to put its money where its mouth is and either develop a new method or technology to avoid paying those royalties, or it could play the same game it plays with Apple.

Today, Google Play Music is now available for iOS. It is now competing with a myriad of other services from Pandora, to Slacker, and iTunes radio. For every user that chooses Google Play Music, that is money in Google’s wallet, right out from under Apple. Google Play Music is a great competitor to iTunes and Xbox Music. Myself, I have about 3,000 titles loaded there and it is one less thing to worry about when I switch devices (which I do often as you might imagine). I have used the service on a trial basis and it is a viable option for anyone that wants access to tons of music.

I know Windows Phone does not have nearly the size and scope of Android and iOS, but Windows itself dwarfs them all handily. Even Facebook, no stranger to data mining and who still has not made a native Windows Phone app, has developed a dedicated app for Windows 8.1.

So the mindless bickering could be about power, but we know Google is practically omnipotent. We know it is not about a lack of talent, look at what is being create despite the bantering. What else is it besides money? To that end, I wonder, is the rapidly expanding Windows Phone ecosystem truly not appealing to the algorithm masters at Google?

Nothing lasts forever, but the growth of Windows Phone is impossible to ignore.
Nothing lasts forever, but the growth of Windows Phone is impossible to ignore.

So far, the growth of Windows Phone is outpacing everything else combined. I cannot speak for Mr. Page, but if I were CEO of a competitor, I would needle my way to get a piece of that in any way possible. Dedicated Gmail app? Done. Dedicated Google+ app? Done. Dedicated Google Play Music? Super done. All that, and more, would be done with the knowledge that every user of Google's service is feeding the machine that makes Google profitable, and allows it to do great things.

When you contrast the effort that Google puts into the larger iOS environment, it is understandable that Windows Phone (or even Windows to some degree) would not be at the top of the list, but this just plain “ignore them.” The problem for Google is that Microsoft is not an entity that can be ignored with the hope that it may go away.

Another "problem" that may eat at Google is Samsung, if Samsung decides to really push Tizen in direct competition to Android, that is another thing that cannot simply be "ignored away."  Suddenly, expanding the user base into a third competing platform like Windows, may not seem like such a bad idea.

Microsoft was able to move the goal posts in its favor once, and it used Larry's vision to advance the cause.  It may be time for round two.

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Posted in Android, Google, iOS, Microsoft, TechNews | No comments

How to Speed Up a PC-Tips to Increase Windows Performance

Posted on 02:30 by Unknown
Microsoft windows operating system has been designed to deliver better speeds.Especially Windows 8 is far better than its predecessor.However, as time passes ,the laptop/PC might tend to get slower.There might be many reasons behind slow PC performance but you can optimize the speed with some simple tweaks and using few software's that clean your PC to increase its speed.

PC’s performance will slow down at 3 Instances:

  1. At the time of BOOTING
  2. During normally usage.
  3. While Shutting Down.

Tips to Speed Up Windows Performance:

Use a Good Antivirus:

If you are not using a Good antivirus then the chances for your PC getting infected are pretty high.In this present world of Internet nothing is safe online.As windows is the most widely used operating system,many new viruses/trojans are created daily to exploit windows os.
  • Check out Best Antivirus softwares.
  • You can also use some good free antivirus software as well.

Removing unwanted Startup Applications:

Sometimes even after the pc starts, few programs keeps on loading thereby stopping you from performing your operations.In some cases, you might come across a strange WINDOWS error known as “Blue Screen Of death”.To avoid this you have to limit the number of startup programs.Lesser the number of startup programs greater will be the pc startup speed.
  •  Press” Windows key + R”(shortcut key for RUN)
  • A RUN box will open .Type “Msconfig” (without quotes) in the RUN box and hit ENTER. It will take you to the “system configuration”.
msconfig
  • Select “START UP” from the Tab’s at the top and uncheck all the unwanted programs that you don’t want to get started along with startup. Now click “OK” and then “APPLY”.Restart the pc you will definiately notice an improvement in startup and booting speed.

Delete all the Temporary files and folders:

Windows stores some temporary files which are created while you are running any sort or applications. Deleting those Temporary files will helps you to increase your PC Performance during normal usage. Follow the steps below to delete the temporary files
  • Press” Windows key + R”. 
  • In the RUN box type “%temp%” (without quotes) and hit enter.
Temporary+files+windows
Temporary Files and Folders
  • It will take you to a Folder where all the Temporary files are stored. Select and delete all the files. You may not delete all the files there, just skip those files which are undeletable.

Disk Clean Up:

Disk+cleanup+windowsDisk cleaning will delete all your temporary files from any drive of your Disk. Here is the Procedure
Press” Windows key + R”. 
Type “cleanmgr” (without Quotes) and hit enter.
Select the particular Disk that you want to Clean and click on “OK” and now you can delete all the temporary files. Repeat the same procedure for all the drives and it will really free some amount of memory in every drive.

Defragment Disk:

For Defragmenting the Disk follow the steps below:
1. Right click on any drive and select PROPERTIES
2. Click on TOOLS and select DEFRAGMENT NOW
3. ANALYSE the dick first and then DEFRAGMENT it.

Delete ”Old Windows” Files:

Normally your files of OLD version of windows can be removed easily using DISK CLEAN UP. So you can follow the same procedure to delete the files of OLD WINDOWS

Reduce Files on Desktop:

Many+files+on+desktop
Move all the files on your Desktop to any other separate drive.Every shorcut on desktop consumes 20kb of your RAM.If there are too many shortcuts then it is definitely going to effect the performance speed of your computer.You can use shortcuts on the desktop for easy navigation (Shortcuts are less in memory). 

Using Proper Cooling System:

Cooling+system+CPU
Make sure that your Cooling fans are working fine. Try to clean the Dust from the surface of the fans to make it work properly. Provide good ventilation for PC’s and try to maintain the room cool so that Pc can perform better.

Removing Visual Effects:

Follow the steps below to disable unwanted Visual effects
1. Go to CONTROL PANEL > SYSTEM AND SECURITY > SYSTEM >ADVANCED SYSTEM SETTINGS ( A box will pop up)
2.  Click on SETTINGS of PERFORMANCE section.
3. There check all the visual effects and remove those which are not need for your and save those settings

Deleting Internet Cache

There are many software’s available on internet to Delete internet cache but, CC Cleaner is the free software and its very effect in deleting the file temporary files.

Use Revo Uninstaller to uninstall programs:

Completely uninstall programs and applications using a program like Revo Uninstaller. It will get rid of registries left behind by normal uninstalls.

Repairing Registry Files:

Windows+registry+errors
There are many Good software’s available on internet to fix all your registry errors. You can pick anyone of them. I will suggest you to use TUNE UP UTILITIES as it perform better than much other software.

Using Ready Boost:

ready+boost
Connect a USB stick to a Windows computer – even on Windows 8 – and it will ask if you want to speed up your system using ReadyBoost. ReadyBoost was introduced in Windows Vista, where it was a heavily promoted feature.

Upgrade your Hardware:

Last but very important thing is to upgrade your hardwares.If you are still using old hardwares then its time for you to replace then to boost pc speed.
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Posted in Microsoft, Tutorials, Win7, Win8 | No comments

Tuesday, 12 November 2013

Speed up a slow PC without buying new hardware

Posted on 11:27 by Unknown
 

Gamersim17 complains that his PC is "moving extremely slowly and not performing like it should." He asked the Desktops forum for advice.
If a once-fast computer has slowed to a crawl, you can't really blame the hardware. Sure, you may be able to improve speed by adding RAM, upgrading the CPU, or replacing the hard drive with an SSD. But none of those solutions--all of which cost money--address the underlying problem. Your hardware isn't underpowered. It's overloaded.
Cleaning out Windows will very likely speed up a PC. And no, I'm not suggesting reinstalling the operating system. There are less drastic fixes.

Look for hog processes

Click for full size
Your computer may be running a poorly-written process that's hogging a lot of resources. To find out, right-click the taskbar and select Start Task Manager. Click the Processes tab, then the CPU column header. The top items will be the ones hogging the CPU.
If you see an obvious culprit, close the program that's running the process (it's pretty easy to figure out what it is). If that doesn't work, click the End Process button and confirm that you really want to kill this process.
Should that fix the problem, avoid using that program in the future. Or find a better-written replacement.
Otherwise, back on the Process tab, click the Memory column header and see if you can find the culprit there.

Clean out autoloaders

When Windows boots, it automatically loads additional programs--sometimes a lot of them. One big autoloader--or a lot of little ones--can slow the PC down.
The trick is to bring up Windows' list of autoloaders, and by disabling and re-enabling them, and rebooting, figure out which ones are causing the problem.
In Windows XP, Vista, or 7, click Start (Start>Run in XP), type msconfig, and press ENTER. Once System Configuration comes up, click the Startup tab. You can disable items by unchecking them.
If you're using Windows 8, right-click the taskbar and select Start Task Manager. If you see a Startup tab, click it. If you don't, click More details, then Startup. To disable an item, right-click it and select Disable.

Check for malware

I doubt an infection is causing your problem--successful malware doesn't draw attention to itself that way. But just to be on the safe side, scan for it, anyway.
See When malware strikes: How to clean an infected PC for scanning advice.

Do less multitasking

The more programs you run, the slower they will all be. Consider changing your working habits to have less programs up at the same time.

Turn off Aero

Windows 7 and Vista use a technology called Aero to improve the esthetic look of the screen. It's not necessary, and  it slows down the PC a bit.
For more on Aero, and how to turn it off, see How important is Aero?



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Posted in Microsoft, Tutorials, Windows Phone | No comments

Microsoft disputes tests that suggest Windows 8.1 has a battery life problem

Posted on 11:22 by Unknown
microsoft_ 

Editor's note:: An earlier draft of this article was published accidentally. The final version has been restored as of 9:00 a.m., PT. PCWorld regrets the error.
When Mac faithful tussle with Windows aficionados, the fur can fly. And at some point, someone will probably bring up the old battery life chestnut: Windows laptops simply run out of juice when you need them most, while MacBooks just keep chugging away.
Battery life is a serious issue. Every road warrior fears running out of power at the worst possible moment. Preventing this scenario has quietly emerged as the most significant design trend in mobile computing. Smartphones like the Galaxy Note 3, LG G2, and Moto X have prioritized battery life, while power-sipping chips, like Intel’s Haswell and Bay Trail Atom, now inhabit PCs that offer all-day computing—especially when paired with keyboards or covers with supplemental batteries inside.
Meanwhile, deciding between an Apple laptop and a Windows PC remains a perennial question.

Surface Pro 2 battery bummer

The PC-versus-Mac controversy took new life last week thanks to Jeff Atwood, who runs the Coding Horror blog. Atwood examined data supplied by Anand Lal Shimpi of AnandTech, ran some tests of his own, and then came to some alarming conclusions.
Using the 15-inch MacBook Pro, in 2008 Shimpi discovered that the laptop’s battery life varied dramatically when running three different operating systems on top of the same hardware. His test systems included OS X 10.5.7 (Leopard), Windows Vista X64 SP1, and the release candidate of Windows 7. In fact, Shimpi’s tests showed that the MacBook Pro lasted almost 2 hours longer under OS X. AnandTech had also published battery-life tests indicating that the 11-inch MacBook Air lasted over 11 hours during Wi-Fi Web-surfing tests.
The test bed for this story: Apple’s MacBook Air.
Flash forward to last week. Looking at the Surface Pro he owned and the Surface Pro 2 he had on order, Atwood saw that the expected battery life of the new Surface Pro 2 was just a third better than the previous generation’s, at about 6.6 hours. (PCWorld’s own tests of a 64GB Surface Pro 2 yielded a battery life of 6 hours, 9 minutes.)
“The Surface Pro 2 has a 42 Wh battery, which puts it closer to the 11 inch Air in capacity,” Atwood wrote. “The Air is somehow producing nearly two times the battery efficiency of the best hardware and software combination Microsoft can muster, for what I consider to be the most common usage pattern on a computer today. That’s shocking. Scandalous, even.”

Yes, Windows is less efficient (on the Mac)

Our interest piqued by Atwood’s blog post, we ran our own battery tests of different operating systems running on a single piece of hardware: In this case, the 2012 Ivy Bridge-based 13-inch MacBook Pro. We used Apple’s latest operating system, OSX 10.9 Mavericks, as a baseline, and compared it to Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1, using Apple’s Boot Camp to multiboot all three systems. We also set specific testing parameters to minimize various hardware effects. These included preventing the system and display from sleeping; setting display brightness to a uniform 150 cd/m2; and turning adaptive brightness off.
We then charged up the Air to full capacity and performed our standard Wi-Fi battery rundown test for each of the three systems, each time accessing a series of websites until the notebook conked out. Our browsers differed for each OS. We used Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7, IE 11 for Windows 8.1, and Safari for the Mac OS, opting for each system’s default, stock browser. We used the Windows Power Saver profile for the Windows tests. At Microsoft’s request, we also installed Flash on Safari to ensure that any webpages were rendered completely.
PCWorld Web Browser Battery Test
PCWorld’s battery rundown test, run on a 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The results were telling: The MacBook Pro running Mac OS X Mavericks lasted just over 7 hours. That’s about 2 hours—or about 29 percent—longer than it did when running Windows 7, which pooped out at just over 5 hours. And even worse for Windows users, our data indicates that “upgrading” to Windows 8.1 is really a downgrade in battery life, as the new system expired at just 4 hours and 41 minutes.

Microsoft’s explanation: Optimized drivers

Alarming results, right? Microsoft was ready with a response. ”What appears to be the most fair comparison is actually the least fair comparison,” said Gabriel Aul, director of program management at Microsoft.
Aul told us that Apple’s Boot Camp provides a thin layer of code between the operating system and the Mac hardware itself, along with drivers to access the Mac’s hardware. Each driver is a bit of code that controls individual components, such as the Wi-Fi radio or the laptop’s display. And according to Aul, the basic Boot Camp installation uses a mixture of generic drivers and unoptimized drivers. (Here’s a Macworld explanation of how Boot Camp works.)
Drivers can make or break battery life performance, Aul said. “Device firmware and buses optimized for particular power states can have a huge impact on battery life if you have something like a radio” that’s not properly tuned, he said.
For example, a Wi-Fi radio’s default driver setting may be set to maximum power to deliver the best throughput at maximum range. But that setting may also spur the battery to drain even faster than usual. And when a PC constantly powers on the Wi-Fi radio to download websites, those small differences can add up.
Windows background processes
Some of the background processes within Windows.
”What we can observe makes us think that... [Windows] off-the-shelf devices are highly competitive on battery life,” Aul said. “On that [Mac], [those drivers] may not be particularly tuned for Windows.”
Hardware makers like Asus, Dell, and Lenovo spend a great deal of money tuning drivers and creating an optimized profile that trades some performance for battery life, Aul said. Microsoft, in fact, released a firmware update last Friday for the Surface Pro 2 that significantly improves how the OS interacts with the Intel Haswell processor, improving battery life, he said. Apple’s Boot Camp simply doesn’t go the extra mile to preserve run times.
At face value, Microsoft’s explanation is plausible. But could optimized drivers really wave away a 2-hour difference in battery life?
Windows runs a herd of background processes, some of which poll either the Internet, the CPU, or the disk for information or updates. As I write this, for example, my PC is running eight applications—plus 118 background processes. But Aul said they could not adversely affect battery life. “We spent a great deal of time tuning” the system for I/O prioritization, he said.
That means Windows spends a great deal of effort trying to avoid spinning up the disk or touching the CPU for system activities, such as indexing the disk. But if a user is calling up a photo or an application, Windows will piggyback on the request and accomplish a few key tasks. “We want to do that and get out of the way,” Aul said.
It is possible, however, that a few poorly tuned, third-party applications may contribute to a decline in battery life, Aul said. “For people that used to get great battery life, that’s usually the culprit,” he said.
Windows Power Plan
Aul also suggested that if PCWorld created a so-called “Hackintosh”—a Mac cobbled together and programmed with the Mac OS, and also Windows—such an untuned configuration would favor Windows. There, the problem would be reversed: The Mac OS would be “unaware” of the hardware, and not properly tuned. (Macworld's lab staff recently built a “FrankenMac” that could run Mac OS X, but they didn't try Windows on it.)
Arguably, running Windows on a Mac, or the Mac OS on a PC, are absurd tests that aren’t going to give you clear answers on anything. All we regular users care about is battery life, regardless of the OS. Apple is ahead on this game, but Windows users have some options for configuring their power settings, either through utilities provided by the computer manufacturer or via Windows itself.
In Windows, the simplest way is to click the small battery icon in the Windows system tray. This will bring up a snapshot of the remaining battery charge, by capacity and estimated runtime. At this point, you can alter some basic settings to improve battery life. For instance, a laptop’s display and backlight can consume 20 to 25 percent of the typical power within a PC, so telling the laptop to shut them down automatically within a few minutes of inactivity can extend battery life a bit.
Windows also offers more aggressive options, which you can access via Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Edit Plan Settings. From here, select Change advanced power settings at the bottom of the window. In the advanced settings, you have the option of limiting the available CPU speed and even controlling the fan.
Windows Power Plan Settings
Some of this may be overkill. “I usually don’t recommend turning on the power saver unless your machine is already overpowered,” Microsoft’s Aul said. “If you’re going to play some games, turning on the power saver defeats the purpose.” As for the advanced options, says Aul, “I usually don’t recommend people tinker with that stuff.”
Finally, consider buying Windows hardware designed for longer battery life. Haswell machines offer a mix of power efficiency and performance, and the Bay Trail Atom (Atom Z37xx series) allows everything from basic Web browsing to moderate gaming. Displays with adaptive brightness can dial themselves down when needed. And if you’re willing to fork over some additional cash, solid-state drives (SSDs) offer faster access times and lower power demands.
Correction: The MacBook used for PCWorld testing was a 13-inch MacBook Pro, not a MacBook Air. We have also noted that we used the Windows Power Saver power profile on our Windows tests.
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Posted in Microsoft, TechNews, Win8 | No comments

Microsoft fixes Windows 8.1 mouse issues, but not for all games

Posted on 11:19 by Unknown
 

Microsoft appears to be getting a handle on Windows 8.1’s gaming problems, releasing a fix for mouse-pointer issues in certain games.
A software update is now available to download for both x86- and x64-based versions of Windows 8.1, along with Windows Server 2012 R2.
Users had previously reported stuttering and freezing with mouse input while playing games in Windows 8.1. Microsoft’s support document says the problems stemmed from “changes to mouse-input processing for low-latency interaction scenarios” in Windows 8.1.
Unfortunately, the fix may not work on all affected games. Microsoft’s support page lists 16 games to which the update applies, including six games in Activision’s Call of Duty series, including Call of Duty: Ghosts (shown above). Other games on the list include Counter-Strike, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Hitman Absolution, Hitman Sniper Challenge, Half-Life 2, Metro 2033, Portal, and Tomb Raider.
Call of Duty: Ghosts
To fix any affected games not covered by the update, users must perform registry tweaks for each individual game, following Microsoft’s step-by-step instructions. Game developers can also apply the registry fix themselves and issue an update to players.

Other troubled games and fixes

Other games that users have reported as troublesome include World of Warcraft, STALKER: Call of Pripyat, Metro: Last Light, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. However, some of these games may be affected by separate issues in Windows 8.1.
For instance, on devices with high pixel density, mouse input may scale incorrectly in some games. The workaround in this case is to disable display scaling for each affected game. Using an internal trackpad for gaming can also be problematic due to accidental click rejection, a Windows 8.1 feature that can be turned off.
Although Windows 8.1 is a must-have upgrade for nearly all Windows 8 users, it has caused driver problems for some users, and is incompatible with a small number of Windows 8 machines. But for PC gamers, at least, it looks like most of Windows 8.1’s issues are now fixable—especially if you’re comfortable with registry edits.
 Via : PCWorld

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Posted in Microsoft, Mouse, TechNews | No comments

Monday, 11 November 2013

When Windows breaks: How to fix it, piece by piece

Posted on 13:47 by Unknown


Windows is so customizable, it’s tempting to tinker. Don’t like Internet Explorer’s default feel? There are settings for that! Hate the way Windows 8’s Ribbon UI looks? Tweak away! And if you’re feeling truly adventurous, a veritable universe of change awaits within the easy-to-bork Windows registry.
But there’s a dangerous downside to all that freedom: You can really, really mess things up. And yes, that includes some very vital things.
Don’t swear off your courageous exploration just yet, though. Microsoft’s built a slew of granular controls into Windows that let you reset all sorts of individual aspects of the operating system. There’s usually no need to hit an irritating fly with that great, big "clean install" sledgehammer! Read this before you burn your installation to the ground and start all over.

Reigniting IE

That’s the metaphorical BIG RED BUTTON. (Click to enlarge.)
More than any other part of Windows, the Internet Explorer browser is most likely to suffer from excessive tinkering—especially if you’re the type of person who likes to install lots of free software, which all too often comes bundled with tacked-on toolbars and settings that hijack your homepage.
If you’ve managed to trash the desktop version of your browser beyond repair, click the gear icon on the right side of the IE toolbar, then select Internet Options. In the new window, open the Advanced tab and click the Reset button all the way at the bottom of the screen. Decide whether you’d like to clear personal settings (like your homepage) as well, then click Reset once more to blast your browser back to its origins.

File History

If you’ve made the jump to Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, Microsoft’s insurance extends beyond the system itself to protect your oh-so-precious personal files—if you make a point of enabling the new File History feature.
File History periodically backs up your Windows Libraries, desktop, contacts, and favorites folders to an external drive, network drive, or some other storage location that isn’t the primary Windows drive. By default, the feature saves once per hour. Even better, each save is stored as a different version, which means you can dive back multiple steps in time to restore an older state.
File History won’t work unless you have some sort of auxiliary drive connected to your PC. (Click to enlarge.)
To enable File History, make sure another drive is connected to your system, then head to Control Panel > System and Security > File History to set it up. Advanced options can be found in the left-side menu pane.
There are some key caveats to this otherwise awesome feature, however—mostly stemming from its reliance on Libraries. (Why no SkyDrive backup option, Microsoft?)
First and foremost, Windows 8.1 hides Libraries by default, so you’ll want to re-enable them. And what if you want to save a folder that isn’t part of one of the default Windows Libraries? Simple: Add it to one. Just right-click the Library you want to absorb the folder (Documents, Music, etc.) and select Properties > Add…, then point the system to your chosen location.

Reset your Libraries

Wiping the slate clean with a borked library is easy. So easy, in fact, that Windows won’t ask if you’re sure about wiping the Library associations. (Click to enlarge.)
But wait! What if you wind up turning your Libraries into a cluttered, nigh-unusable mess in the midst of all that File History preparation? Fear not. Simply right-click  the Libraries listing in Windows File Explorer and select Restore default libraries to wipe the slate clean. You can also restore individual Libraries to their pristine states by right-clicking them and selecting Properties, then clicking the Restore defaults button at the bottom of the window. Or, you could just hit the Restore settings button that appears in the Manage tab of Windows 8’s Ribbon UI when you’re looking at a Library in the File Explorer.
Be warned: Windows doesn’t ask if you’re sure about your decision when you’re rebooting Libraries, so don’t click that button unless you’re committed to action.

Reset the Ribbon UI

Speaking of the Ribbon UI in Windows 8’s File Explorer, it’s much more customizable than the traditional file menus found in Windows 7 and earlier. As with many of Windows’ forays into flexibility, though, it’s almost too easy to wipe the slate clean.
Open Windows File Explorer in the desktop, then browse to the View tab and click the Options button on the right side of the Ribbon menu. Each of the three tabs hidden within the Folder Options window that appears contains its own Restore defaults button, and each does exactly what you’d expect. Once again: There’s no turning back once you click that button.

Reset the taskbar and Start menu

The Windows taskbar is a wonderful thing, providing at-a-glance info about your open programs and popping up system notifications as necessary. Windows being Windows, however, you have the option of muting or hiding individual software in the taskbar and system tray to cut down on the cacophony.
I long to see your face again, dearest taskbar icons. (Click to enlarge.)
If you’ve decided that you’ve hidden too much, right-click an empty section of the taskbar and select Properties. Open the Taskbar tab, then click the Customize button. Underneath the scrolling list of options is the blue link you’re looking for: Restore default icon behaviors.
And while you’re poking around the taskbar properties, you can restore the Start Menu’s defaults (assuming, of course, you’re using Windows 7 or another version of Windows that still sports the Start Menu). Just open the Start Menu tab—remember, this doesn’t apply to Windows 8—and click the Customize button, then press the Use default settings button at the bottom of the “Customize Start Menu” pop-up that appears.

Mr. Microsoft, tear that firewall down!

Firewalls are finicky. If you accidentally block a needed program (or accidentally allow a malicious program) then connectivity havoc can ensue. Microsoft’s baked-in Windows Firewall is as user-friendly as firewalls can be, but it, too, has a reset button in case everything goes pear-shaped.
That’s the ticket. And by "ticket" I mean "option," of course. (Click to enlarge.)
Head to Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall, then click Restore Defaults in the left-hand pane. Confirm you want to do so, and poof! Sweet stock setup achieved. (Be more careful this time around.)

System Restore

The buttons you’re looking for. (Click to enlarge.)
The venerable System Restore acts kind of like File History, but for your system files and programs: It lets you return your PC to a previous, workable state if things go wonky. (Personal files aren’t touched.)
System Restore points are automatically created once per week, or whenever you install a new app or update. To manually create a snapshot of your system—like say, before you attempt to install a crucial system upgrade—head to Control Panel > System and Security > System and then select System Protection in the left-hand pane. Click the Create button at the bottom and you’re backed up.
If you ever need to actually make use of the feature, head to the same place and click the System Restore… button. A wizard will walk you through the straightforward feature from there.

Refresh and reset

Now on to the more dramatic options! Windows 8 includes new "refresh and reset" options that restore core aspects of Windows to their native state.
Of the two, Refresh is the kinder, gentler option. It won’t touch your personal files, but it will wipe everything else. Settings, apps, desktop programs, you name it: All gone, replaced by the stock settings and apps that shipped with your PC. Watch out: Any personal files stored in your PC’s Program Files folders will be plunged into the abyss, too.
Reset is the nuclear option, the tool of last resorts. Kill it, burn it, clean-install it into the ground. Everything you’ve installed, created, or changed on your computer disappears, replaced by a fully factory-fresh Windows installation. Make sure those important files are backed up!
This is it. Pure annihilation. Pure redemption. Game over, man, game over. (Click to enlarge.)
If you’ve managed to break or clutter your operating system to those dire levels, you can find the Refresh and Reset options in Windows 8’s Settings Charm. Open it, click Change PC Settings at the bottom, then select General in Windows 8’s PC Settings menu, or Update and recovery > Recovery in Windows 8.1. Back up your data, kiss your kids, and select the option you’d like to use.
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Posted in Microsoft, Tutorials | No comments
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