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. 
Microsoft today released Office 2007 SP2, the latest edition of the company’s productivitiy suite. The new release is cumulative, meaning that it includes fixes included in Office 2007 SP1 and other public updates, security updates and hotfixes that were issued through February 2009.
The new release can be downloaded here.
What’s New Among the major enhancements in this release:
- Word improved .pdf and .xps output; better integration/performance with Outlook
- Excel: improves the charting mechanism (better parity with Office 2003, improved robustness, and targeted performance improvements); adds a chart object model to Word and to PowerPoint
- Outlook Speed boosts, including faster startup, shutdown, and switching between folders; better search reliability; fewer duplicate RSS items
- PowerPoint faster file resaves; better .jpeg, .png and .gif image quality; fixes several printer-specific problems.
- Speed improves application performance when many graphic objects are present, especially for Excel 2007
- Miscellaneous OpenDocument Format (ODF) support: “SP2 lets you open, edit, and save documents in version 1.1 of the ODF for Word, for Excel, and for PowerPoint. Users of these Office programs can now open, edit, and save files in the OpenDocument Text (*.odt), OpenDocument Spreadsheet (*.ods), and OpenDocument Presentations (*.odp) formats.”; built-in “Save As PDF/XPS” support
If you are having any problems after the update, please let us know.
Filed under News, Office 2007, Windows Vista, Windows XP by on Apr 28th, 2009. 1 Comment.
Users are noting a variety of issues after updating to the Windows 7 Release Candidate, build 7100:
Bugs
- Blue screens (BSODs) Some users have reported an increased incidence of BSODs after the update to Windows 7 build 7100. Some of these cases may be related to a conflict between the Kasperskey antivirus software and new security updates included in the OS, which we covered previously. See our fix here.
- Taskbar Thumbnails do not appear properly The thumbnail previews of items in the Windows 7 taskbar may not appear properly in the new build of Windows 7, coming up blank. This generally occurs directly after the user switches themes.
- Decreased Graphics Aero score A number of users have reported a significant drop in their systems WEI (Windows Experience Index) Graphics Aero score after the update to Windows 7 7100. This means that either Microsoft changed the scoring methodology, or a difference in drivers or some configuration file has resulted in an actual score reduction.
- Wireless signal bars never displayed Some users have reported an issue in which wireless signal bars are never displayed in the status portion of the taskbar. Instead, the “networks available” icon is persistently displayed.
- Windows Media Player problems Several users have reported that music tags are missing or songs display the wrong titles in Windows Media Player under Windows 7 build 7100.
If you are experiencing similar issues, or have any other bugs or fixes to report, please let us know.
See our previous coverage “Windows 7 RC Leaked: What’s New, What’s Fixed, What’s Broken” for more.
Filed under News, Windows 7 by on Apr 27th, 2009. 1 Comment.
Several users have encountered a problem in which, after updating to Windows XP SP3, the system will not boot.
Fixes
The first step in fixing this problem is to boot in safe mode. To do this, tap the F8 key on your keyboard repeatedly as the computer is starting up). Select a method of safe booting from the menu (first try with networking; if the crash still occurs, try without networking).
Next, try removing any external devices from your computer and restarting normally (not in safe mode). If the system boots normally, either remove the offending device(s) or try installing updated drivers (usually available from manufacturers’ web sites) before re-attaching them. If the system does not boot properly, startup in safe mode again.
Next try applying any updated drivers for your system while booted in safe mode. Check the website of your computer’s manufacturer for any new releases. Try booting normally (not in safe mode). In particular, some HP systems need a specific driver — available here — to work properly with Windows XP SP3.
If that fails, startup in safe mode again.
As a last resort, remove Windows XP SP3 per the instructions in this Microsoft document.
Filed under Windows XP by on Apr 23rd, 2009. Comment.
Some users have noticed an issue in which various Microsoft applications, including Internet Explorer, Windows Update and others, suddenly can no longer connect to the Internet. Internet Explorer may display “cannot display this web page” when the problem occurs. This issue is sometimes caused by problematic policy files spawned by third-party programs.
It can generally be fixed via the following process, which deletes specific policies:
1. Click the Start button, then type REGEDIT in the search field and press enter.
2. In REGEDIT, delete the following items (first back them up by right-clicking each and clicking “Export” then saving them to any desired location):
- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft]
- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies]
- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy]
- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft]
- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy]
- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies
Filed under Internet Explorer 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP by on Apr 2nd, 2009. Comment.