Windows 8 Consumer Preview (BETA) Version Free Download

Microsoft has launched the beta version of the latest in Windows lineup named Windows 8. It has started offering Windows 8 Consumer Preview for the general public to use it for free since yesterday.

Windows 8 is essentially an operating system that tries to bring together computing from the mobile, tablet and the pc world. Launched at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the new version of Windows has been enthusiastically received among the Windows users. Windows 8 shifts away from the traditional look and feel and instead gives us the new mosaic tiled-like appearance which they call as the Metro UI.

From the developer's site:

It's Windows re-imagined and reinvented from a solid core of Windows 7 speed and reliability. It's an all-new touch interface. It's a new Windows for new devices. And it's your chance to be one of the first to try it out.

With a lot of new features and improvements over Windows 7, this new operating system from Microsoft's stable is betting big and is a must try out for every computer user out there.

Do download Microsoft Windows 8 Consumer preview from the following link:
Windows 8 Download

 Another Link

How to Register 32 bit dll on 64 bit Windows

Trying to register a 32 bit dll on a 64 bit system running Windows fails and gives the error-

Filename.dll is not an executable file and no registration helper is registered for this file type.

The reason :
This happens because even though you intend to access the 32bit version of regsvr by typing regsvr32, it actually opens the default 64 bit regsvr that lies in the system directory(of 64 bit Windows).
That is, when you run regsvr32 to register a dll, you are actually running the 64 bit version by default.

The solution:

Getting "SDL.dll not found" error

If you are getting SDL.dll not found error such as the one shown on the left(click on it to enlarge it), then follow the below mentioned steps to resolve the issue.

Windows Phone 7 Development for Absolute Beginners

With the Windows Phone 7 already released and gaining a steady sales figure, there has been a scurry among developers and amateurs to develop applications for the Windows Phone 7. Microsoft has a big power when it comes to marketing and trade pundits believe that it will end up selling a larger volume of its phones than it is selling at the moment (which is not too flattering).

If you are interested in developing applications but do not know much about Silverlight or C#, then Microsoft presents a series of videos to help you through their Channel9 network on MSDN. These videos are for absolute beginners but could be used by professionals to brush up their knowledge.

The description on the website reads :

This video series will help aspiring Windows Phone 7 developers get started. We'll start off with the basics and work our way up so in a few hours, you will know enough to build simple WP7 applications, such as a GPS aware note taking application.  We'll walk you through getting the tools, knowing what an if statement is, to using the GPS built into the phone and much more!

Check out the videos, starting with the introduction video by clicking on the link below.
Windows Phone 7 Development for Absolute Beginners: Series Introduction

How to enable the secret Windows 7 GodMode

Since the past few months of Windows 7's release, there has been a sudden interest in something that people are calling the Windows 7 GodMode. Don't know how it got the name GodMode; probably the kind of GodMode cheats that allow gamers to play the game without any vulnerability. But there is no such thing here. All Windows 7 GodMode does is, give you a folder where users can access all of the operating system's control panels from within a single folder. All kinds of modifications you may ever need to do, you will find their links here. It is a 2 step process needed to create such a GodMode folder in Windows 7 and it works on both 32 and 64 bit versions.
Here is what you need to do

Making Windows Genuine using registry crack

In most of the client computers I attend to, I have seen that many are still using Windows XP and are either using pirated copies or have been duped by then software vendor by paying for pirated ones. The problem arises when Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage tool (WGA) declares that you are using counterfeit version of Windows and that you need to buy a genuine one. And then on you will be getting that ugly WGA pop up irritating the hell out of you, before blacking out everything for you(as in Windows Vista) and making it unusable.

Optimizing Windows Registry

In my previous post, we saw how to backup and restore Windows registry easily by using ERUNT tool. In addition to backing up and restoration, the registry requires optimization too. Registry optimization keeps the registry hives healthy and increases overall performance. Just like we need to defragment our hard drive, registry too needs to be done the same. And NTREGOPT does that for you. NTREGOPT stands for NT Registry Optimizer and it works for Windows 7 and Vista too.

Backup Windows Registry

Anyone who has been working for sometime with computers having Windows as its operating system, will be knowing how important a Windows registry is.

How to install Windows from USB Drive

Does this picture say something? Are you one of those trying to install Windows from your flash drives but don't know exactly how to do? Or are you one of them who know a certain method but want to know which is one of the most efficient ways to do so?
If, at all, you belong to any of the above (others are equally welcome!), then this post is what you should definitely read up. More and more people these days are trying to leave the traditional way of booting into Windows setup using bootable CDs. It's more of a necessity because people with netbooks do not have an optical drive or may be a person's optical drive has gone kaput.

Install Windows XP

Until I come up with my short guide on making pendrives bootable, here is a quick tip on how to install Windows. Though am using Windows XP as an example, it can be applied to almost any version of Windows from 2000 and later. This guide is basically meant for both new, inexperienced users as well as those who know how to do it.

Free Windows driver download

Do you want to download drivers for your computer but don't know how to ? Or may be you are just unable to find them ! Today we will see how to download driver free of cost for your windows running computer without any hassles.

Many of us use Windows as their default operating system and for Windows XP and earlier versions, it is necessary to install the drivers of the hardwares being used, for them to work. Unless we do it, we will see these yellow question marks in device manager (Right click on My Computer>Click on Manage> Click on Device Manager on the left hand side menu. Alternatively, press Win key and R to get Run command.Type devmgmt.msc ) which means that the device drivers are missing.

Drivers, for each of these hardwares, are missing and they need to be installed for them to function properly.Also outdated or wrong versions of drivers can cause problem in the operation of the computer. (Note: In Windows Vista and presently Windows 7, the drivers are automatically loaded so there's no need to install them separately for most  hardwares).
Now we have got 3 main options with us.

1. Install drivers from the motherboard and/or CD that we got with the respective hardware, or
2. Incase the motherboard/hardware driver CD is not available, then go to the manufacturer's site (if the hardware manufacturer is known to us ), or
3. Use the method I am going to show below.

If we do not have the first two options with us then we have to go for the third i.e. updating device drivers through special softwares. Many of the cases I have seen about missing drivers, the user doesn't usually have the driver cd with them (mostly in case of laptop owners who didn't get a separate cd from the manufacturer) or they have lost them. So ultimately they are left with no other option but to download them from the internet. People who are adept at using the internet find it easily locating the particular driver with the correct version but people who aren't so sure end up messing up their computers.

One of the simplest and least time consuming ways is to use the wonderful freeware Device Doctor.

Device Doctor is basically a freeware windows driver updater that is extremely easy to use and very efficient. According to the site www.devicedoctor.com "Device Doctor is a freeware Windows application that scans your computer hardware and checks to see if there are new driver updates available for your devices. It also locates drivers for "unidentified devices" in the Windows Device Manager."
It is very simple to use too.The basic interface looks like this -

Click on 'Begin Scan' and the software starts scanning your devices. Once that is done, it will start searching for updates for the devices from their online servers.

Once scanning for updates is over, it will display the drivers available for download as shown below

Now you will see all the downloads available listed as shown. You can click on Download Update and get the drivers updated one by one. Finish up with a restart and your computer is now updated with the latest device drivers.

Note that the most important aspect of this software is its huge and regularly updated library of drivers and its ease of use. Even a newbie can sit and update his pc using this software. Its a recommended software for all pc users to have.

This software is free and comes in two types, the normal installable version (4.6 mb) and the other portable version (5.1 mb) for use in multiple computers using a usb drive.

You can download them from the original site