LyteByte » Operating System

Record Steps to Reproduce a Problem in Windows 7

Mr.Byte — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:39:41 +0000

In Windows 7 if you have any problems and you are not sure how to solve it then you can capture the steps to recreate the problem using in-built tool. This allows the user to send it as a single page with all the screenshots and steps to a friend who know how to solve it or to the customer support for any programs.

So how to capture steps to recreate the problem in Windows 7?

Go to Start and type Problem Steps in the search.

From the search under Control Panel –> click Record steps to reproduce a problem.

You will get a Problem Steps screen recorder.

Click Start Record and proceed with the steps that led to a problem or failure of a program.

It will record all the screen shots and each individual click that you made.

You can also add comment on each step by clicking Add Comment. This will open a window to highlight problems and comments.

When you click Stop Record, it will ask for a location to save the .mht (MHTML format) file which will be zipped. You can view this file in Internet Explorer.

You can view the steps clearly in the Problem Report page.

Each Problem Steps clearly explains the user interaction and the time. Below is an example of a recorded problem step.

At the end, it will also give additional technical details of each step.

You can also view the steps in a slideshow by clicking Review the recorded problem steps as a slideshow at the top.

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Change Default Sounds of Aero Themes in Windows 7

Mr.Byte — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:27:54 +0000

Windows 7 comes with various options of aero themes by default. And each themes in like Windows 7, Architecture, Characters, Landscapes, Nature, Scenes and United States has different sounds option. Sometimes you may like a different theme but you may not like the sounds that come with that theme and you may like the default Windows 7 sounds.

So how to change the sounds of aero themes to Windows default sound or other?

Right click on the Desktop and click Personalize. Choose the theme that you want to apply. Here I have chosen United States theme and you it comes with the Delta sounds option.

Click the Sounds and under the Sounds Scheme, you can chose a different one like Windows Default. Click Ok.

This will create a new theme and will show up as Unsaved theme. You can use the save theme link to save as a customized theme.

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How to Delete, Remove or Restore Recycle Bin Icon in Windows 7 Desktop?

Mr.Byte — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:53:31 +0000

Some prefer to have all their shortcuts and all applications in their Windows desktop and others like me prefer to have a clean desktop other than desktop widgets or gadgets. But in Windows 7 you have the Recycle Bin which doesn’t have the delete option like it had in Vista.

So how to delete or remove recycle bin from desktop in Windows 7?

Here you can see that recycle bin does not have delete option on the right click.

Go to Start –> Control Panel –> Appearance and Personalization –> Personalization. (Or you can right click on the desktop and click Personalize)

On the left side bar, click on Change desktop icons.

From the Desktop Icon Settings, you can select or unselect the icons you want or don’t want. If you don’t want Recycle Bin on the desktop, just uncheck the icon.

Click Ok.

So how to recover recycle bin icon to desktop or appear again in Windows 7?

If you want to restore any other icons at any time like My Computer, Network, User, Control Panel or Recycle Bin, just go back to the option and check it.

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How to Keep Windows Media Center on Top in Windows 7?

Mr.Byte — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:46:32 +0000

Windows Media Center has lots of unique benefits and features which are not explored by many who use Vista or Windows 7. It allows one to mange all the Pictures, Videos, Music, Radio, TV, Video Recorder etc and once if you start using, its hard to go for another media center as this makes it more complete.

Recently we saw how to keep Windows Media Player on top of other Windows. WMP has just become a subset of Windows media center in terms of feature. So one may use Windows Media Center as well instead of using WMP.

Here is an example of having Windows Media Center on Top of other Windows.

So how to keep Windows Media Center on Top of other Windows?

In the Windows Media Center, go to Tasks –> Settings.

Under Settings –> Click General.

Click Startup and Window Behavior.

Check Always Keep Windows Media Center on top and click Save.

Now you can have the Windows media center on top of other windows.

What to do if you temporarily don’t want Windows Media Center on Top?

Just use the Minimize button on the top right corner (or use the keyboard shortcut to minimize and maximize windows)

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How to Keep Windows Media Player on Top in Windows 7?

Mr.Byte — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:36:54 +0000

Windows 7 comes with Windows Media Player 12 and it does not allow you to dock the media player to the taskbar as it has been redesigned. You can surely preview the media player from the taskbar but you cannot keep it on top so that when you go about browsing online or view other windows. (Hint: If you want to dock WMP on the taskbar, you should downgrade from WMP 12 to WMP 11)

But you can keep the WMP on top so that you can still view the media player while browsing other Windows.

Here are some of the examples of Windows Media Player on Top of other Windows

So how to keep WMP on Top in Windows 7?

Go to the Now Playing mode (View –> Now Playing) or use the Keyboard Shortcut Ctrl + 3.

Right click on the Windows Media Player screen and check Always show Now Playing on top

Now which ever window you browse or view, the Windows Media Player will stay on top.

You can also resize the WMP window to the smallest size and keep it on one corner so that it will not disturb the other work that you might be still doing while having WMP on top.

What to do if you temporarily dont want WMP on top?

Just use the Minimize button on the top right corner (or use the keyboard shortcut to minimize and maximize windows)

If you are using WMP, you can also learn how to use Windows Media Player as Alarm Clock? and Read how to keep Windows Media Center on top of other Windows?

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Keyboard Shortcut to bring up the Gadgets in Windows 7

Mr.Byte — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:08:14 +0000

The Gadgets in Windows 7 which used to called as Vista Sidebar Gadgets are very helpful to give information which are accessed quite often like Time at different zones, Calendar, Weather etc with quick access. They are equivalent of the Mac Dashboard Widgets or Yahoo Widgets. Here is a quick tip on how you can bring up the gadgets on top of the current application you are running.

Here is the picture of the Windows 7 desktop with the running gadgets.

While running any application or viewing or browsing any folder or at any given time, if you would like to see the gadgets just use the Keyboard Shortcut Win Key + G to bring up the gadgets on top of the current window.

To return back, just click on any other space in the current window.

Windows 7 gadgets on top of the Windows Explorer.

Windows 7 Gadgets accessed while using Office applications.

I still wish it would dim the current application so that the gadgets would stand out and be bright.

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How to Check If My Processor is x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) in Windows?

Mr.Byte — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:06:10 +0000

Up until this point you might not have wondered to check if your processor is x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) as almost no one used 64-bit in Windows XP and when Vista came, most were cautious about the drivers and compatibility with 64-bit processor including me but I think its time everybody moves to 64-bit processing for Windows 7.

Windows 7 is here and you have to make a decision to go for 32-bit or 64-bit before you upgrade from XP or Vista to Windows 7 and I recommend you going for 64-bit.

But why? First let’s see what exactly these numbers 32 and 64 represent. These numbers 32-bit and 64-bit represent the Data Bus width that are between the Memory (RAM) and the Processor. Obviously you can see that 64-bit has the capability of carrying data twice the width of 32-bit. If you were using 32-bit Vista so far, you would have seen the maximum memory it can realize is 3 GB (though you have 4GB) but with 64-bit Windows you can realize much higher (It was 128 GB with 64-bit Vista). Also, in days to come having more than 4 GB will become a standard and developers and service providers will have to give support and drivers for 64-bit processors. So it’s wise to invest in 64-bit processor and OS at this point in time!

So you have an old Windows XP or Vista computer and now how do you find if your processor is 64-bit capable?

There are different ways to find if your computer processor is 64-bit capable:

Method 1: Easy Method!

Go to Start -> Right click on Computer -> Click Properties. Click on Windows Experience Index.

Now click on View and Print detailed performance and system information.

Here you will be able to see the current system type, number of processor core and if it is 64-bit capable. Note: If you are already running 64-bit processor, it will show in the current system type and you will not see if it is 64-bit capable or not.

If you feel a bit geeky then you can use the following methods to find if your processor is 64-bit:

Method 2: Using Regedit

Go to Start -> Type regedit

Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0

From ProcessorNameString you will be able to see the name of your processor and from Identifier you will see the family of the processor and if it has 64 then it is 64-bit capable.

Method 3: Using MSINFO32

Go to Start -> Type msinfo32.exe

From the System Information page under System Type you will find as x64-based PC.

Method 4: Using CPUZ

Download CPUZ

CPUZ is a small utility which gives all information about your CPU (Processor), Cache, Mainboard, Memory, SPD etc.

Under Instructions from CPU tab, if you see EM64T (if its Intel) or AMD64 (if its AMD) then your processor is 64-bit capable.

So are you using 32-bit or 64-bit processor and which OS are you using. If you are having 32-bit Windows, will you consider going for 64-bit OS, let us know in the comments.

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How to View DSLR Photography RAW Format Files in Windows 7 and Vista

Mr.Byte — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 04:13:00 +0000

Probably you are done with all the summer vacation and maybe not yet but you would have taken a lot of pictures while you enjoyed. If you are a beginner in Digital SLR photography like me then probably you also would have taken the images in RAW format to retain the original features of the image. By default these files are not supported in Windows 7 and Windows Vista. But you can download these DSLR RAW formats to support these so that you it can show the thumbnail view of the image and also full view. It works well in both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7.

For the beginners, first lets see what is RAW Format in Digital SLR Photography?

RAW formats are nothing but unprocessed or very minimally processed data from the digital camera. They are equivalent of negatives used in film photography and from this negative format other positive formats like TIFF or JPEG for storage, printing and other manipulation(More from Wikipedia).

When a picture is taken, the light goes through the lens and they are captured by the image sensor and they are converted from analog to digital signal. This initial unprocessed content is called as RAW image. This is then processed based on the other parameters given to the camera such as White Balance, Contrast, Sharp, Saturation, special image effects etc and then they are compressed using some algorithm like JPEG and stored. Since they are compressed, it loses most of the data and therefore the unprocessed RAW format usually holds a large memory space.

This RAW format varies from camera manufacturer to another, some of them are

Canon – .cr2, .crw

Nikon – .nef, .nrw

Kodak – .dcs, .dcr, .drf, .k25, .kdc, .tif

Sony – .arw, .srf, .sr2

So how to view download RAW format codec and View RAW format images in Windows?

First you need Windows Live Photo Gallery to view these RAW formats and to enable the thumbnail view when you view them in the Windows Folder.

Download Windows Live Photo Gallery if you don’t have one yet.

When you include the library or the folder which has these RAW format pictures for the first time, it will ask you to install the codec to view these formats. Click Download.

Depending on the RAW format, it will take you to the particular website to download the codec. I have a Canon Rebel Eos and the RAW format was .cr2 and it took me to the following Canon codec.

If you want direct link, click here to download Canon RAW Codec 1.5.0 to .CR2 Format

Now, you will be able to find what those images are in the RAW format when you view them in the Windows Folder though thumbnail and without opening them in Adobe Photoshop or high end photo editors.

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How to Burn ISO Images in Windows 7?

Mr.Byte — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:51:36 +0000

Windows 7 has lots of new and improved features and one of them is using the native built ISO burner which helps to burn ISO images in CD and DVD provided you have a CD or DVD writer.

So how to burn ISO images in Windows 7?

If you click on the ISO image, you will be able to see the Burn disc image on the top bar. Or right click the ISO image and choose Burn disc image.

Choose the DVD drive and you are good to go for burning the ISO image. you can also check on verify disc after burning to make sure it is burned without any errors.

There are so many disc burning utilities out there. But this simple but elegant Windows Disc Image Burner is something everyone will adore to have built-in within the new Windows 7.

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How to Disable Child or Guest Account User to Change Password in Windows 7 and Vista?

Mr.Byte — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:55:38 +0000

Previously we have seen how to setup Guest Account in Windows Vista and Windows 7. If you are a parent then probably you have Child account enabled with parental controls. As you would like to monitor the child account or guest account and have access at any given time, you would like to know the password at all time. So, here is a quick tip on how to disable child or guest account to change password so that you are always in control.

Note: This tutorial is explained with Windows 7 and it works with Vista just the same.

Click Start and type ‘lusrmgr.msc’ without quotes.

You will get the local users and group users control page.

Here you can see different users, both users and groups. Double click on any user to get its Properties.

Just make sure you have checked the User cannot change password option. Here you can also set the password to never expire, disable an account.

Let us know have you ever considered disabling the password change for your child account?

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