Windows Tools, Help & Guides

This book is a gift from the Windows Phone 7 team at Microsoft to the programming community, and I am proud to have been a part of it. Within the pages that follow, I show you the basics of writing applications for Windows Phone 7 using the C# programming language with the Silverlight and XNA 2D frameworks.

Yes, Programming Windows Phone 7 is truly a free download, but for those readers who still love paper—as I certainly do—this book will also be available (for sale) divided into two fully-indexed print editions: Microsoft Silverlight Programming for Windows Phone 7and Microsoft XNA Framework Programming for Windows Phone 7. [Note from Devon: we should have these ready for order in December 2010.]

The second part of this book focuses entirely on Silverlight, and the third part on XNA 2D. For your convenience, the chapters in each part build upon previous knowledge in a progressive tutorial narrative, and hence are intended to be read sequentially.

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I must admit that I am a big fan of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). Since Microsoft has the most popular consumer operating system in the world, why don’t they take up the responsibility in releasing a security program for their users for free? Of course, I am aware that Microsoft has previously released a few – less noticeable security programs, like Windows Defender (pre-installed in Windows Vista/7 and will be disabled if the user installs MSE) and Windows Live OneCare (which was a paid subscription and discontinued), but most Windows users still prefer to use some free security software offered by third parties (and most of them are ad-supported), due to various reasons. Don’t be surprised that some of new PC users aren’t aware of the importance of a security product for Windows, and some don’t have security software installed (and they aren’t aware that they are exposed to the various threats during browsing), so it is pretty important (and I think it’s quite fundamental) for Microsoft to have a competitive in-house security program for all Windows users, for free of course, and the answer is Microsoft Security Essentials. Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft have responded to a recent Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate (or SP1 RC) leak by actually releasing it.

SP1 for Microsoft’s most popular Operating System brings plenty of bug fixes and enhancements.

Notable additions are Remote FX and incremental security updates and hot fixes.

Windows 7 SP1 RC can be downloaded via the Microsoft Website.  If you are already participating in the Beta go to Windows update and install the RC.
The x86 iteration of the SP is a heavy 514.7MB with x64 weighing in at a staggering 865.4MB.

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Libraries were introduced with Windows 7; these libraries are special folders with special views. They are “special” because each library is an aggregate of many different folders. The default libraries include pictures, videos, music, and documents. The data in these folders is a mix of personal files and publicly shared files on the computer/network.

In this guide, we share the top 10 tips for getting the most out of Windows 7 Libraries. If we missed a tip that you feel should be included, let us know in the comments. Here’s a preview of the 10 tips:

1. Add a New Library
2. Customize Library Icons
3. Delete a Library
4. Share or Collaborate Using Libraries
5. Change a Library’s Default Save Location
6. Change the display order with a Library
7. Backup Files and folders using Library
8. Remove folders from a Library
9. Open Explorer Into My Computer Instead Of Libraries
10. Enable or Disable Libraries

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Ever needed to have Windows log on as a specific user automatically without touching the PC. You might wonder where you could possibly need this.

We have two PC’s with each a 42” LCD TV connected as the screen. We use them as electronic billboards in the canteens. These PC’s are locked in a steel cabinet, so they are not easily reachable should the power go down in order to restart them. I needed to figure out a way to have this happen automatically.

There are a few steps you need to achieve this.

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In this guest post, James Ricketts explores the frequently asked questions pertaining to 3 common file extensions used on a Windows PC.

• Q#1 – I’ve received an .exe file type as an email attachment – how do I open it?
• Q#2 – How do I delete all the .tmp file types from my computer without risking the removal of one or more essential .tmp files?
• Q#3 – What causes file type errors? I’m receiving one when I try to open a .psf file type with Adobe Photoshop – what should I do?

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