Microsoft Windows

Technet Flash Comes Through With Some Xmas Goodies

I subscribe to lots of Microsoft email newsletters, including the Technet Flash. This morning I found the latest issue in my inbox when I logged onto my machine. And although this newsletter doesn't always deliver an overflowing cornucopia of goodies, it usually contains at least one or two items...

Is Patch Tuesday Still Patch Tuesday?

For the past 5 years, Microsoft has made a policy of releasing non-emergency patches and security fixes on the first Tuesday of the month. The idea is to limit the frequency and standardize the interval at which organizations — especially, larger ones that must pick up, test, and decide whether...

Interesting Doings Around the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool

On November 2, 2009, I blogged about the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool, then available from the MS Store. In the meantime, a bit of a fracas has...

What black screen of death?

Gosh! I love Ed Bott (as a Windows maven that is: I'm a happily married man ;-). His commentary on the IDG story that broke on Monday, 11/30 is right on the money and lays the situation out in stark, harsh, no-nonsense terms. As did most other Windows followers, I saw the initial story early Monday...

Handy Tool Simplifies Editing Windows Path Variable

As I work with Windows from day to day, I often find myself looking at the way things work inside that OS and wondering why some things can't be improved. Recently, I've tech-edited a book on the Python-based Django Web development environment and have been digging into the Windows Preinstallation...

At long last, production PC settles down

I may be asking for trouble, but it looks like I've finally gotten my production PC to settle down and behave itself. After about 13 weeks of ups and downs I've finally fixed all the drivers, gotten the various system components to behave, and have dealt only with very basic Windows and Internet...

Where Windows 7 Starter Falls Down…For Me

OK, so I've been running Windows 7 Starter on a couple of netbooks and my wife's mini-ITX Core 2 Duo system for a couple of months now. And while I still like this OS, especially for its slim footprint and modest profile, I've discovered a few things I don't like about it as well — enough so, in...

Windows 8 Foreshadowing Now Underway

• Here's an interested tidbit from Paul Thurrott's latest Wininfo Short Takes blog for November 25, entitled "New Windows Every Three Years? Yes,...

OEM Install Issues Are Real and Serious

In the wake of my latest blog on bargain Win7 versions, I got an e-mail from a former student and regular corresponent, asking about some...

Ed Bott Scores Again with money-saving Win7 suggestions

Everybody who reads this blog is probably on the clock for an IT job of some kind. But let's face it: that means you're probably handling systems off the clock as well, for family and friends. Everybody can benefit from money-saving tips for software, and Ed Bott has put together a real nonpareil...