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How to Enable Blocked USB Ports on Windows 7, Vista and XP With Registry Trick

Samrat P — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:47:29 +0000

There are many situations where an Admin might block the access to USB Ports on Windows 7, Vista and XP computers. USB Ports are usually blocked in Companies, Colleges, Schools and other places where the Admin want to restrict the users from installing Software from USB Drives. Though this is really a very good method to prevent systems from Malware attack, there might me some needs where you need to require an USB port to charge your iPhone or an MP4 player or a Camera. In these situations you can perform a simple registry hack to enable USB Ports. The below detailed simple procedure will allow you to re-enable blocked USB Ports on Windows 7, Vista and XP computers.

Procedure to Enable Blocked USB Ports on Windows

Click Start on Your Windows Computer
In the Search field or from RUN, type regedit and press Enter to open Registry Editor
Now navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/USBSTOR
In the right-pane find the entry named “Start” and double click it to open.
Now change the value of the key from “4″ to “3″.
Finally click OK and restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

Once you are done with the above registry modifications you will be able to access blocked USB Ports at your workplace or college. If you want to revert back the changes then just rollback the value from “3″ to “4″.

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Download Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta [Official Win 7 SP1 Download]

Samrat P — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 06:55:11 +0000

After a long wait and many leaks Microsoft has finally announced Service Pack 1 for Windows 7. At the Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft has announced about the availability of Service packs for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Windows 7 SP1 Beta is available on TechNet and it is not a “public” beta. This early release of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta is not available for home users. The SP1 Beta does not provide new end-user features, and installation is not supported by Microsoft.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta helps keep your PCs and servers on the latest support level, provides ongoing improvements to the Windows Operating System (OS), by including previous updates delivered over Windows Update as well as continuing incremental updates to the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 platforms based on customer and partner feedback, and is easy for organizations to deploy a single set of updates.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta will help you

Keep your PCs supported and up-to-date
Get ongoing updates to the Windows 7 platform
Easily deploy cumulative updates at a single time
Meet your users’ demands for greater business mobility
Provide a comprehensive set of virtualization innovations
Provide an easier Service Pack deployment model for better IT efficiency

In order to download and install the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta you must currently have a Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 already installed.

Download Windows 7 SP1 Beta
Download Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta

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Get Windows 7 Professional For $29.99 – Special Offer for Students in US

Samrat P — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:59:02 +0000

If you are a student and are staying in the US then you can now get Windows 7 Professional for just $29.99. Windows 7 Professional is available in the retail stores for $299.99 and the upgrade price is $199.99. But US students can get the upgrade to Windows 7 Professional at just $99.99, that’s just a massive $100 discount.

Microsoft at their special website – “College Ready. Career Ready.” is giving away Windows 7 Professional for $29.99. The site says “Work hard. Play harder. With Windows 7, your PC becomes your entertainment hub; TV shows, movies, photos, and music – and you still get work done like a pro. Save money too with this exclusive $29.99 price from Microsoft”.

All the students in US who have a licensed version of qualifying Windows XP or Windows Vista can get the Windows 7 Professional upgrade for $29.99. Apart from Windows 7, students can also get Office Professional Academic 2010 for $79.95. Language Packs for Office 2010 can be brought at $9.95 for a single item. Eligible students may purchase up to three licenses, but no more than one license from each of the numbered sections per valid e-mail address or billing address. Eligible students can obtain the software by downloading or ordering a disk from the official Offer web site. The cost for ordering disk(s) is $13.00. Product keys will be provided on the purchase confirmation page and sent to the student’s eligible educational institution email address entered into the Offer web site during the purchase process.

Stay tuned to TechHail to hear more about Windows 7 Offers, Discounts, Coupons and Office 2010 Offers, Office Coupons and many more.

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Set Picasa and Flickr Images as Windows 7 Login Screen With 7LogonChanger

Samrat P — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:23:57 +0000

If you are bored with the usual Logon screen of Windows 7 then you can try out 7LogonChanger. 7LogonChanger is a simple freeware application which fetches images from Picasa and Flickr based on the tags specified and uses those images as wallpaper or for Windows 7 logon screen.

If you are the kind of person who actually changes your wallpaper or Login screen very of then then 7LogonChanger will make your task very easy. 7LogonChanger essentially searches Flickr and Picasa based on the tags and fetches the images. Once the images are fetched you can just right-click on them to bring the options “Set as Logon” or “Set as Wallpaper”. 7LogonChanger will also makes it easy for you to return to your default login screen with the “Restore Default Logon” option.

Download 7LogonChanger

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Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner For Windows 7 and Windows Vista

Samrat P — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:21:21 +0000

After introducing Microsoft Security Essentials back in September 2009, Microsoft has discontinued the support for Windows Live OneCare. But Microsoft still offers a safety scan for Windows 7 and Vista computers. Windows Live OneCare safety scanner is a free service designed to help ensure the health of your PC. With Live OneCare you can Check for and remove viruses, Get rid of junk on your hard disk and Improve your PC’s performance. Windows Live OneCare includes three different scanners for ‘Protection‘, ‘Clean Up‘ and ‘Tune Up‘.

Protection Center – It keeps hackers and unwanted software at bay and has got some quick ways to keep your PC secure. You can use the free protection scan to check for and remove viruses, spyware, and other potentially unwanted software and to find vulnerabilities in your Internet connection.

Clean Up Center – Lots of things get saved on your PC that you don’t need. Some are benign, some slow you down and some let prying eyes track what you do on your PC. You can remove all these by using the clean up center. Users can use the free clean up scan to find and get rid of unwanted stuff on their computer that might be slowing it down.

Tune Up Center – You can use thr free tune up scan to see if you should defragment your hard disk to help improve performance, and then perform the required operations.

With Safety Scan for Windows Vista and Windows 7, you can find some of the top threats like “Worm:Win32/Conficker.B“, “Virus:Win32/Sality.AM“, “PWS:Win32/Verweli.A” and more on your PC.

Try Windows Vista and Windows 7 edition of the Windows Live OneCare safety scanner here – http://onecare.live.com/site/en-in/center/whatsnew.htm

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Leaked Windows 8 Docs Show Instant-On Boot, Facial Recognition and New Improved UI

Samrat P — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:20:24 +0000

Microsoft is still busy with Windows 7 but looks like they have already on the path to work on Windows 8. A leaked document on Windows 8 says that Microsoft Windows 8 will be coming up with many significant features like instant boot functionality, automatic display brightness adjustment, facial recognition for user identification and enhanced media display accompanied with 3D and Wireless TV.

Some of the major concern areas of Windows 8 are boot timings. Instant boot functionality and resuming your system much faster are key areas in Windows 8. All the activities will be done at a faster pace, whether you surf the web or perform any other activity, it will happen in a few milliseconds. This sounds really great, but Windows 8 has much more premium features like – Adjustable display brightness feature which automatically changes the brightness according to the brightness of the room. The facial recognition is used to identify the person who uses the system and logging can be done automatically.

Attention Tracking is another interesting feature in Windows 8, this feature pauses the application when unattended. Windows 8 also supports faster devices using latest technologies like Bluetooth 3.0 and USB 3.0, apart from this App Store will also be included in Windows 8. Windows 8 with all these features will be very useful to the users across the globe. Further, it is also known from the sources that Microsoft is working on hard drive encryption in Windows 8.

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Internet Explorer 9 Third Platform Preview Availble For Test Drive

Samrat P — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:03:31 +0000

Today I received a mail from the Microsoft Corp. and thought of sharing the information with you all. As per the mail, Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 3 (PP3) is ready for test drive! Yeah. You got me right! The most awaited IE9 PP3 is now available via IE Test Drive Site for all the developers and you can happily have a glimpse at the next version of world’s most popular Web browser. Powerful and faster than ever, IE9 is expected to surpass all user expectations by providing lightening Web experience.

Including many new tools and enhanced hardware support, IE9 makes web more enriched. With GPU-powered Canvas & GPU-powered audio and video functions, IE9 features a new JavaScript engine that enables enhanced web experience. Internet Explorer 9 will also add on endless possibilities for creating rich, powerful Web applications along with a new avatar for “www.com”, making it more user-friendly, light, and agile to accomplish tasks at an ease.

Features of IE 9 at a Sneak Peak

IE9 implements a new JavaScript engine and utilizes the complete PC thus bringing the next class of experiences for the web.
With partnership with NVIDIA and AMD/ATI, Internet Explorer 9 comes with solid GPU-CPU compatibility. Powered by GPU canvas and GPU , features IE9 moves the browser from running on a crowded, single CPU to the fast, spacious GPU.
IE9 adds new tools that enable developers to create rich, standards-compliant, interoperable Web applications at an ease
Including expanded support for HTML5, hardware-accelerated graphics, and text, and a new JavaScript engine, IE9 allows developers to deliver graphically and functionally rich Web applications that utilize modern PC hardware through a modern operating system.

This combination of the enhanced web browser and powerful hardware support is a wonderful effort by Microsoft to make today’s web better and in near future, we may even see a extraordinary transition in the web experience. You never know! Nevertheless, for now, its time to try the latest web browser and re-image the web with its enhanced browsing features. Download the new avatar of IE today and relish its new look!

Internet Explorer 9 PP3 Test Drive

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Download Electronic Arts 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Theme for Windows 7

Samrat P — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:58:18 +0000

With FIFA World Cup 2010 getting closer everyone is trying to attract the soccer fans. After Google tweaking Search page for world cup 2010, it’s time for Microsoft to release a theme for FIFA Soccer World Cup 2010. Microsoft brings the excitement of the World Cup to your desktop with a beautiful Windows 7 theme.

The Windows 7 World Cup 2010 theme features stunning graphics from the Electronic Arts 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa game. The theme is currently available for only Windows 7 users.

Download World Cup 2010 Theme for Windows 7

Stay tuned to TechHail to hear more about World Cup 2010.

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Download Microsoft Touch Pack Games and Apps for Windows 7 Touch Devices

Samrat P — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:54:23 +0000

Windows 7 Touch Pack that was introduced by Microsoft an year ago exclusively for Original Equipment M(OEM) is now tailored to Windows 7’s Natural User Interface (NUI) as well and can be downloaded for any Windows Touch capable devices. Anyone with a Windows 7 PC or a multi-touch monitor that supports Windows Touch in Windows 7 can now utilize this wonderful Touch Pack collection and boost their Windows 7 experience on touch-capable machines.

The Microsoft Touch Pack features a series of 6 applications – 3 casual games and 3 Microsoft Surface applications that were designed not only to highlight Windows Touch in Windows 7 but also to help people learn touch gestures.

Microsoft’s Touch Pack – 3 Games and 3 Apps

Microsoft Blackboard, an intricate physics game where creating a fanciful machine on a blackboard solves the puzzle
Microsoft Garden Pond, a game that involves in serene Japanese water gardens and users are required to guide their origami creations to peaceful areas on the pond or direct them with gestures to complete goals.
Microsoft Rebound, an interesting game wherein users propel a ball and annihilate their opponent to control Tesla spheres
Microsoft Surface Globe, a world-exploration application based on Microsoft Bing Maps content that allows users to explore earth as a flat 2-D map or an immersive 3-D experience.
Microsoft Surface Collage, an application that allows users to take favorite digital photos, arrange or re-size them using fingertips and arrange them as a desktop background as well.
Microsoft Surface Lagoon, a screen saver and interactive water simulation that allows users to interact with multi-touch. It also includes a meditative rock arrangement along with a playful fish.

Though MS Touch Pack is available for official download now, customers desiring to download Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7 will require a genuine Microsoft Windows running on their devices and they will require a computer or monitor that supports Windows Touch.

Download Microsoft Touch Pack

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Download Office 2010 Product Guides To Learn New Features in Office 2010

Samrat P — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:02:02 +0000

Microsoft Office is one of the widely used Software and the latest version of Office 2010 will be released soon. Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010 have reached the RTM recently and are currently available for Pre-Order. There are many new features that are introduced in the latest version of Office 2010 and if you are willing to learn about them, you should probably try with the Office 2010 Product Guides first. The Office 2010 product guides from Microsoft provide an overview of what’s new in your favorite Microsoft Office programs and a deeper look at benefits across all Office 2010 programs, as well as Office Web Apps and Office Mobile 2010.

Microsoft Office 2010 product guides helps you to explore Office 2010 products by giving an overview of what’s new and improved in your favorite Microsoft Office programs or for a deeper look at benefits across all Office 2010 programs. Each guide provides an at-a-glance overview, a closer look at many new and improved features, and instructions to help you find the features you want quickly and easily.

Download Office 2010 Product Guides

Direct Download Links of Office 2010 Product Guides