Microsoft today released a slew of details regarding Windows 7′s XP Mode, which allows applications to run under a virtual Windows XP machine. According to the new details, XP Mode will require:
- 2GB of memory
- 15 GB of additional disk space
- a PC with Intel-VT or AMD-V enabled in the CPU
The first two requirements are easy enough to figure out, but many users aren’t sure whether or not their processors have the necessary virtualization capabilities (Intel-VT or AMD-V). Fortunately, there’s an easy way to find out.
Download and install, and run the tool SecurAble. If the program displays a “Yes” for hardware virtualization, as depicted in the image below, your system can probably run Windows 7′s XP Mode.
Filed under Windows 7, Windows XP by on Apr 29th, 2009. 1 Comment. 
If your system suddenly slows dramatically or stalls altogether, with a spike in processor usage from the task “searchprotocolhost.exe,” you may want to try disabling the Windows Search service. Follow these steps:
Note that this will disable some search services, but for most users, the sometimes dramatic speed increase is worth it.
Filed under Windows Vista, Windows XP by on Apr 29th, 2009. Comment.
The official Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC)-the same build 7100 that leaked earlier–and the final build of Windows Vista SP2 have hit Microsoft’s private servers, and are now available to eligible users, specifically:
- Microsoft Connect subscribers: members of the closed beta program
- Technet and MSDN subscribers: paid account holders (accounts start in the $2500-range)
Subscribers are experiencing some difficulty getting through to the servers (which are apparently overloaded) to download the new releases.
Filed under Windows 7, Windows Vista by on Apr 30th, 2009. Comment.
Microsoft has issued a press release to accompany the posting of the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) earlier today. The statement divulges two important areas of information for the new release: system requirements and official new features.
System requirements are as follows:
- 1GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 GB of RAM (32-bit)/2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit)/20 GB (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics device with Windows Display Driver Model 1.0 or higher driver
Among the officially listed new features:
- Remote Media Streaming. allows remote access to home-based digital media libraries from another Windows 7-based PC
- Windows XP Mode. Allows Windows 7 users to run many Windows XP productivity applications; available in Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate customers
- Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. helps analyze PCs in preparation for a Windows 7 upgrade.
- Refined navigation. Several enhancements to the Windows taskbar, JumpLists
- Windows Touch. Controlling the computer by touching a touch-enabled screen or monitor; the RC update includes several Windows Touch updates, including the ability to drag, drop and select items with touch.
Filed under News, Windows 7 by on Apr 30th, 2009. Comment.
Microsoft has announced that it will post a downloadable beta of the Windows XP Mode tool for Windows 7 alongside the public release candidate on May 5th. The releases will be available from the Microsoft download center.
Filed under News, Windows 7, Windows XP by on Apr 30th, 2009. Comment.
Several users are experiencing problems installing the new Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) update, which was released earlier this week. Users are sometimes presented simply with the message “updates failed” or “The installation of this package has failed.”
Fixes
- Install the Microsoft Office System Update Download and install this file from Microsoft. It contains fixes for issues that can prevent the installation of Office 2007 updates. Next, re-attempt installation or move on the the following fixes.
- Try Windows Update If you manually downloaded the Office 2007 SP2 installation package initially, try downloading and installing the update through Windows Update instead.
- Re-download the installation file Microsoft’s servers have had issues delivering the Office 2007 SP2 installation package. When downloading Office 2007 SP2, ensure that the file size is 290MB. If it is smaller, you may have a corrupt, unusable file. Try re-downloading the file.
- Use the Windows XP or 2003 hotfix If you are running Windows XP or 2003, try using this hotfix from Microsoft that solves an issue with large installation files
Filed under Office 2007, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP by on Apr 30th, 2009. 15 Comments.