Category Archives: Microsoft Windows

Beta Program, Microsoft Windows, Tips and Tricks, Windows 8

[How To] Install Windows 8 Developer Preview in Virtual Machine

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Windows 8 Start Screen
Windows 8 Start Screen

Windows 8, an answer from Microsoft to the rapid-growing Apple Inc. in personal computer (MacBook Air) and tablet market (iPad), finally has it’s Developer Preview released to the public. Since it is not even a beta release, it is definitely not recommended for a normal user to install it over the stable Windows Operating System. However, it is certainly interesting to test run the new Windows 8 Developer Preview, so to do this without causing any damage on your stable system is – Virtual Machine. Currently the Windows 8 Developer Preview can be easily install on Oracle VM VirtualBox only, not on the VMWare Player (do let me know if it is possible). Step-by-step guide to install Windows 8 in VirtualBox after the jump. Continue reading [How To] Install Windows 8 Developer Preview in Virtual Machine →

Microsoft Windows, Tips and Tricks, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

[How to] Remove the white block on the top left of desktop

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White_Block

If you suddenly found that your desktop has an un-clickable, un-removable white block on the desktop, you might be in the right place. Check whether you installed Soluto (for my case, it is the culprit), if you did, just simply quit it and guess what? Problem solved.

It is apparently a bug in Soluto that is known by the developer, but it is not fixed yet in the latest version. Current workaround for this issue is to turn on the ‘Exit Right After Boot’ option for Soluto.

Hope it helps.

P/S: If you doesn’t have Soluto installed, but having the similar issue, probably it is caused by lack of memory, incomplete exiting of some applications such as IE, the installation of Double Twist etc. These are some common causes that I found during the searching. Good luck!

Android, Apple iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Management Tools, Microsoft Windows, Software, Software Review, Tips and Tricks, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

[Review] wunderlist – A simple multi-platform task management tool

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WunderlistLooking for a simple task management tool that you can access anywhere, either on your smartphone, Windows PC, tablets etc.? wunderlist might be just your thing.

A product from 6wunderkind, a Berlin-based company, wunderlist aimed to provide a simple and user friendly task management experience which can be synchronized across almost all of your mobile devices, and your computer, be it a Windows PC or an Apple Mac. Currently they have the wunderlist app for iOS devices (iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad), Android devices (1.6 above), Windows PC (XP, Vista and 7), and Mac (OSX 10 and above). They also have a web-based wunderlist, which is very useful especially when you are using a public computer, or using an unsupported operating system eg. Linux-based distro. No news for Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry yet, but don’t be disappointed, they are currently hiring now, so I am expecting some surprises in the near future.

Continue reading [Review] wunderlist – A simple multi-platform task management tool →

Microsoft Windows, Photo Tools, Software, Tips and Tricks, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

Resize image using right click? Image Resizer is your answer.

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Image_ResizeIf you have a bunch of photos shot at a huge 10 Megapixels (and thus the huge file size) that you wanted to quickly share them to your friends and family via email, Facebook etc., and you are too lazy to fire up the slow-loading-and-complex image manipulation application, look no further, Image Resizer is possibly the best solution for you.

Image Resizer is an evolved product from the Image Resizer Powertoy Clone by BriceLambson, which allow the user to resize images with just a few clicks. Once it is installed, it sits comfortably in your right click context menu (only when you right click on images), and it is always ready for your resizing command.

Continue reading Resize image using right click? Image Resizer is your answer. →

Backup, Microsoft Windows, Tips and Tricks, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

How to restore/format your Acer desktop/laptop without recovery disc?

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Acer

Update: While I have been trying hard to solve everyone’s issue with Acer Recovery System, I found that I am no longer able to help since there are too many different situations happen when using the Acer Recovery System. Therefore from now on, I will NOT answer any problem related to this, since my primary aim of this post is to made Acer’s user to aware of such recovery system, and doesn’t meant for solving problems with the system. If you have problem using Acer Recovery System, contact Acer or ask in related forums. I don’t have an Acer system and I can’t really efficiently help everyone. I am sorry and good luck!

If you owned an Acer desktop/laptop and you just found out that there isn’t any Windows or Acer recovery disc when you planned to do a system restore – you are not alone. Most, if not all, of their PC doesn’t come with a recovery cd at the time of purchase, though they will provide them if you specifically request and purchase from them.

So, without the recovery disc, what can you do, if say, you have a not repairable system, such as endless loop startup repair wizard (i just helped my friend to end this by restoring the system recently), or a bloated system that is slow and unusable, and you want to restore your system back to the original state? No worries, if your Acer computer hardware still in it’s original configuration, especially HDD, most likely you will be able to do so.

In the HDD that comes with the Acer computer (Windows Vista system, though I would think it’s the same for Windows XP and Windows 7, correct me If I am wrong), there are two visible partitions, namely ACER (C Drive) and DATA (D Drive), and also a hidden partition created by Acer called PQSERVICE. This hidden partition contained the original copy of your Windows and factory configuration, which is not accessible (at least not in a direct way) within Windows, and it will only be used by the Acer eRecovery System. So if you have replaced the HDD that comes with the computer unofficially (not via Acer) and it is not an exact copy of your old HDD, most likely you won’t have this partition available, and therefore you won’t be able to use the Acer eRecovery System.

Continue reading How to restore/format your Acer desktop/laptop without recovery disc? →