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Mapping SkyDrive to your PC

February 18th, 2010

WHAT:
Windows SkyDrive is Storage Space located on the Microsoft Servers.  25Gig of storage, and it’s ready for you to use it NOW.  It’s FREE cloud space.  OK, so you can do the old thing of logging into Skydrive via your browser, navigating to the file you want to upload and then upload it to the cloud and have it their to store or to share.

There is a 50MB limit to any file that you upload, but if your desperately keen to get a large file up there then you can always split a RAR and upload the components.

WHY:
Wouldn’t it be much easier if you could map the SkyDrive to your computer and utilise it just like any other network drive?  So when you cut and paste, you can paste to say Drive Y: and it automatically uploads to the cloud.  Essentially making Drive Y: another 25Gb drive available on your desktop.

HOW:

  1. Login to www.skydrive.com or register your Windows Live account
  2. Download and install Gladinet
    set_driver_letter
  3. Select the Drive letter you wish to map to
  4. Select SkyDrive from the list
    windows_live_skydrive
  5. Sign in with your Windows Live ID and Password
  6. When complete you should be able to open up Windows Explorer and see your new Drive listed in the available drives for your computer.


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Load Windows 7 to Netbook or PC without DVD Drive via USB Key

January 28th, 2010

WHY:
You’ve just bought your copy of Windows 7 and want to install it to your netbook, but there is no DVD drive.  You can’t put the Windows DVD into another shared DVD drive as the netbook won’t be able to access it on boot.  How do you load another OS into the netbook?

WHAT:
Netbooks invariably come with no Optical DVD drive.  This is mainly to reduce the price of the system and maintain the unit as compact as possible. Windows is bought on DVD or it is downloaded in an ISO format and then expanded to be burnt to a DVD.  In any case Windows needs a DVD to install.  Here is the way that you can put Windows 7 onto an USB key to allow you to install Windows 7 on your netbook.  It will also allow you to install onto a desktop or laptop also (providing you have the necessary product keys), and by doing it via USB is a slightly faster process than with the DVD.

HOW:

Create a bootable USB Key Drive

  • I used an 8 gig Kingston DataTraveller
  • Plug the USB Key into your Desktop/Laptop
  • Open command promt.  Make sure you open logged in as Administrator or open the command prompt as Administrator
  • type into the command prompt
    • diskpart (if you do not have the diskpart utility on your PC you can download it here
    • list disk
  • Obtain the disk number relating to the USB key you have just inserted.  If your unsure, execute the above commands without the key inserted, then again with, and take note of the disk number of the USB key
    • select disk (the # of the USB drive for example:  select disk 3  )
    • clean
    • create partition primary
    • select partition 1
    • active
    • format fs=NTFS
    • assign
    • exit
  • Insert the Windows 7 DVD into the DVD drive
  • You can simply copy and paste the contents of the DVD root directory to the root directory of the USB key.
  • Insert the USB Key into the netbook, ensuring the BIOS has been set, or temporarilly set to boot from USB
  • Boot the netbook, and away you go.
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How to quieten a noisy CPU Fan

January 23rd, 2010

WHY:

  • Your PC is making a lot of noise.  After some initial investigation it is the CPU Fan.  It sounds like an aeroplane!
  • PC is rebooting or shutting down
  • PC running sluggish and HDD seems to be getting a real workout making programmes slow and unresponsive
  • You’re experiencing the above because you have overclocked your CPU

The hotter your CPU gets, the faster the fan has to work.  This can cause the fan to become noisy when operating at high speeds.  This is one factor that might be contributing to that noise - a dirty fan, heat sink and/or old ineffective thermal paste.

WHAT:
On Top of the CPU is s heat sink.  A CPU reaches very high temperatures in very  little time.  Even after a few seconds of turning your PC on, the CPU is already too hot to touch.  A heat sink is the object that sits on top of the CPU, that takes the heat and dissipates it.  If you look at the heat sink, they are normally grilled.  This is so the heat is transferred from the CPU and onto the heat sink and then the heat is dissipated via the fanned grills.  Sitting on top of the heat sink is an ordinary fan, that helps blow the heat away from the heat sink keeping it at operational temperatures and in turn maintaining the CPU at working temperatures.

Sometimes the process becomes inefficient.  The heat sink is not being cooled sufficiently to allow the CPU to dissipate the heat effectively.  In my example, over many hours of operation and the PC being on a carpeted floor, there was quite a bit of buildup of dirt and dust not only on the heat sink fan but also on and in the heat sink.

HOW:
After putting on your anti-static wrist strap of course proceed to remove the heat sink and fan from the motherboard.  Normally these are one and the same unit.  Refer to your motherboard manual for procedure if your stuck.  Once you have the heat sink and fan in your hands, you should be able to separate them from each other.

Once separated, being careful not to get water into the fan power lead, go wash it under the tap and rub the blades with your fingers to get any built up dust off.  Do the same with the heat sink.  You can go harder with this as it is metal.  Use a toothbrush or similar  if you need to get right into the grills.  Once clean leave to dry.

You might notice that there is some dry goo, or crumbly type of gooey like paste on the surface where the heat sink sits on top of the CPU.  This is the thermal paste.  This is use as the conductor to transfer heat between the CPU and the heat sink.  You will have to replace the thermal paste, as once you separate the CPU and heat sink, the thermal paste needs to be reapplied.

Firstly though you must clean the old paste off.  Use some nail polish remover or some metho.  Grab a tissue and rub the old dried paste off carefully.  Be especially careful when removing it from the CPU.

Thermal paste can be bought from your local PC store.  Squirt some paste onto the surface of the heat sink (the surface which meets the CPU).  Using a credit card (or similar) spread the paste out in a nice thin layer on the heat sink.  The layer of paste is very thin - almost see though.  This may take some time, depending on the thermal paste you use.  It maybe a bit crumbly, just apply more paste and smooth over till you get a good covering (even and thin).

Replace the fan onto the heat sink, and then carefully replace the heat sink onto the motherboard and clip into place.


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Where is the Startup Folder in Windows 7

January 10th, 2010

WHY:
You might want to have a programme loads automatically when you log into your user profile.  Eg. Say everyday you turn your computer on and you  load Quick books, Internet Browser, Excel etc.  Instead of loading these manually each day, you pop the shortcuts into the Startup Folder and they will load on boot automatically.

WHAT:
The Startup Folder can be personalised for individual logon or system wide (by Administrator)

HOW:
 Create a shortcut and sent to the desktop.  Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the Startup Folder.  Copy/Paste or drag the shortcut into the Startup Folder.  Logout - Logon to check.

WHERE:

For User Account:
systemdrive\users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

For all Users:
system drive\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup


NB:  It appears that the folders are located in a different area for the Win 7 RC.

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Windows Home Server Rebooting - Playing Up

January 7th, 2010

Recently my Windows Home Server (WHS) machine started playing up.  Kept rebooting and then after reboot would not start up.  After many many weeks of frustration (as it would work intermitedly) I decided to fully investigate what the problem was.  I was running the trial.

After many tears, I found the promary drive to be faulty.  It was a Seagate 500 Gig drive.  I downloaded and ran Seatools (Seagate’s drive checking tool) and it reported errors.  This drive needs to be returned to Seagate.

This did not solve my problem immediately as it was the primary drive that was faulty, how can I just rip out the primarty drive and replace it, there will be no OS on it.  After alot of research it appears you could just do that (rip it out) and put another drive in an load the WHS (OS) and it would give you an option for ’server reinstallation’.  All data would be saved.  Needless to say that this option was not on my list of choices with only ‘New Install’ appearing.  New install was to format all drives.

What to do?

As the machine still booted up and ran for various times before it shut off, I could still remove the data from the drives.  So I backed up everything.  I also discovered that I could not simply put in the OEM key and upgrade the trial to full legit version.  You needed to reload the OS.  What a pain in the A hole.

So anyway, I pulled out my version 1 of WHS (the broken version) and am currently reinstalling the WHS OS after a format.  Hopefully all will go well and my machine will run for a while this time.

It makes you wonder, what the hell is duplicating data on your system good for (raid) when you have to have a backup anyway.

Will let you know how the new install goes………..

***************************************************

The WHS is up and running.  I had to re setup the users, but that is no big deal.  I am now in the process of copying all my data back to the WHS.  Something that is taking a long time.  The HDD’s are soooo big these days that it is taking ages for 1 TB to be copied across.  I think HDD’s need to get their act together here.

***************************************************

All done and all working fine.  Remeber the HDD can be faulty even if it is brand new

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Windows Home Server - Power Pack 3 Install

November 25th, 2009

Power Pack 3 is finally available now as part of the Windows Home Server (WHS) Updates.  It is supposed to install automatically when WHS does it’s normal check for available updates.  The Power Pack was made available November 24th.  I couldn’t wait, so I manually started the download which is currently progressing.

I will blog my experience here, I am using Windows 7 as the client PC.

Manually updating your WHS, you  will need to remotely log onto the server.  I do this via the Remote Desktop Login.  You could also give it a shot via the WHS console - whichever floats your boat.

  1. Downloading updates
  2. Server Restart
  3. Rebooted again. I don’t know what is going on cause there is no monitor on the WHS. I just here POST beeps! Waiting nervously now for it to come online
  4. Back Online - About to remote log in and see any changes to desktop. No changes. Desktop background still saying Service Pack 2 and so is System Control Panel. Is a Service Pack the same as a Power Pack? Logged back onto the Windows Updates and had another 2 little security updates to perform. Now going through another restart.
  5. Opened up the WHS Console and Settings-Resources and it displays Power Pack 3 there - Happy now

OK now it all looks installed OK - Not too many dramas

Happy Camper!

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Discover Windows 7

October 7th, 2009

So I jumped on the train yesterday (06/10/09) lunch time and headed to the Hilton Hotel in Brisbane. One thing I have to say about Brisbane, and this probably goes for most capital cities, is that it is far easier to train it than to drive. I have been to numerous events in Brisbane over the years and all have been within a 15 minute walk from the station.

I arrived at the Hilton and waited for the event. It began with a video counting up the different versions of Windows. It was clear that Windows 7 was derived from the different versions of the home versions of the OS and not the business version eg NT, Server. Notable version missing though was Me. Apparently Windows Me is now considered a point release.

Our MC for the afternoon was James Matheson of Australian Idol fame (well for me at least). He was quite entertaining. Kept the speaking moving along and handed out some prizes for audience participation. First prize XBOX, so prizes were fairly substantial.

The theme of the whole Discover Windows 7 mini launch was James Bond 007. Speakers were introduced by their name and also a character they represented from the movie. The word of the day was ’sexy’ . Just about every feature and or benefit was described as being sexy. Even from the Partners, Sony, Acer, Asus etc when we took a tour around their hardware offerings - alot of their machines were ’sexy’ too.

James joked that the reason for the 007 theme was that the title of the day looked like

007 - discOver windOws 7.

First speaker David Mclean ‘M’ - Head Devices Entertainment MS Aust. In summary David spoke about how 95% of drivers in Vista SP1 are already up and running in Win 7. He spoke about Microsoft vision of the fututre being Three Screens and The Cloud - TV, PC, Mobile and Internet.

Jeff Putt ‘Q’ Business Group Director was next.

Jeff spoke about MS research and development and that MS spends nine billion dollars annually on R&D!! On the average user desktop there is 5 windows open at any one time with people only concentrating on 3.

He then went on to speak about some of the new features in Win 7. I’ll just summarise here but you can always google them to find out more.

  • IE - Private Mode browsing - no cookie or page history saved
  • Task bar enhancements - Shake, Desktop Peak, Jump List (These looked pretty good and a good addition to the OS)
  • HomeGroup - Share folders, files, libraries between computers easily
  • DLNA enabled - Had to be the one that took my attention the most. Hook a Networked enabled TV into your home network and use your computer to send any content straight to the TV.
  • Remote Media Streaming - connected via your Live ID account therefore making it legal to stream to yourself. As long as your Internet connections at both ends were good enough, this looks great.

It can be argued that for some items there are third party software that can let you do these tricks anyway, but now they are all built right in to the OS.

Ashley ‘Jinx’ Jenkins - MS Digital Evangelist. Ashley spoke and provided a demo of the Windows Mobile Phone that is to be released today in Australia.

http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Phones/Mobile/P8X9A5E6

Melissa Dewick - OEM Business Manager

Melissa spoke about the Win 7 TV campaign that will begin with the launch of the product on Oct 22 2009. Only 5 markets in the world are getting TV advertising with Australia being one of them.

She advised the Win 7 lineup

  • Starter - Netbook aimed
  • Home Premium - Media Centre Included
  • Professional - XP Mode included
  • Ultimate - Everything

That was the end of the speakers and we were shipped off to take a look at some of MS harware partners offerings being launched with Win 7 installed.

Partners that provided a show were Toshiba, ASUS, HP, Sony and ACER.

In summary, all partners concentrated on Touchscreen laptops. Some laptops were coming with 64 bit Win7 installed. All in all, they each had different and varying features that looked great. It looks like a hard decision if your in the market for a laptop/netbook in the near future.

The laptop that stood out most was the Sony VAIO X Series http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/02/hands-on-sony-x-series-slimster/

This has to be the toughest, smallest and lighted thing I have ever seen. The guy stepped on it and it still worked. Take a look at it in the review link above.

So that was about it - got a free shirt and a little screwdriver set (??). I can only wonder what this was for - hopefully they don’t think we’ll need it to fix anything with!!

Glenn

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