Running Old Programs In Your New Windows OS

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Tips for running old programs in Windows

For example, without knowing how to do it, you would think that it is impossible to run certain old software programs in your new Windows OS. As it happens, Windows supports the running of some of the old software programs in what is called Compatibility Mode; but, not all the outdated software programs that you dig up from your old desktop PC. The basic coding structures in all Windows operating systems have many things in common and therefore, you can – with some tweaks and settings – run some of the old software programs in the new Windows operating systems like Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Just select the EXE icon for launching the application and right click on it to launch the Properties wizard. There, click on the Compatibility tab and go through the options shown there. Under the heading Compatibility Mode, you will see the option Run this program in compatibility mode for _. In the text field provided there, you need to select one of the older versions of Windows, for which the program was originally designed. If you are trying to run a XP version program on Windows 7, select Windows XP for this text field.

After selecting the Compatibility mode settings for the correct OS version, click the Apply button to save these settings. Now, the next time you launch that software application, it would be running in the compatibility mode and any OS compatibility error messages you saw before, would not be there anymore. However, in some cases, some of the functionalities present in the software would be disabled, when running in the compatibility mode like this. This is to be expected.

Running a virtual machine application is another option. In this case, you will be running a XP virtual system inside your Windows 7 or Windows 8 PC. You can continue to run all the XP programs inside this virtual environment without facing any compatibility problems with the modern Windows OS running in your system.

As you can see, you can still run some of the old programs in Windows. For useful tech articles like this, you may continue visiting the Omni Tech Support blog page and stay away from any Omni Tech Support fraud websites you might come across online.

Windows Threshold Project Unveiled As Windows 10 OS

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Windows 10 is officially revealed

Of course, the latest news regarding Windows OS is the announcement from Microsoft regarding the next generation Windows OS. They have been working on this for a while. They got a cue from the Windows users, very early on, that the Windows 8 UI design was fundamentally flawed. This convinced them to go to the original Start Menu design that was part of the Desktop UI. We all expected Microsoft to launch their next OS under the brand name ‘Windows 9’. However, Microsoft has applied some bizarre logic to justify skipping a number and is launching the next generation OS as Windows 10. So, where is Windows 9? Some IT experts are speculating that Microsoft might be trying to put as much distance from the failed Windows 8 OS as possible.

According to one Microsoft spokesperson, skipping a number simply means making a leap to a whole new direction for the Windows operating system. At any rate, the project Windows Threshold is now officially unveiled as Windows 10. From the initial preview, it is clear that this OS will have both the Desktop and the Start Screen features. The standard UI will be the Windows 7 style desktop screen with the full Start Menu. But, the All Programs menu here is replaced by a mini Start Screen with Metro Style app icons instead of the old menu system. There is also the option to go to the Metro-style Start Screen to access these app icons on the full screen.

According to Microsoft, Windows 10 is designed to align itself to suit the specifications of the device, on which it is running. In other words, you will see some difference in the UI, when you install it on a tablet, laptop, smart phone, smart watch, etc. In fact, Microsoft will be paying particular attention to the new generation small screen devices like smart watches and smart glasses.

A Windows 10 preview version is already available at the official Microsoft tech support website. Keep checking this site, for more information on Windows 10.

iFixit Teams Up With Microsoft To Launch Repair Guidance Site

iFixit and Google are brewing up a new service that will try to help its users learn how to fix everyday gadgets like Smartphones, tablets and laptops. This new service has been hailed as revolutionary since none of the IT majors have ever backed such an initiative. This website is designed to impart the skill-sets necessary to fix devices and will relay information to enable them to do the same. The idea behind this initiative, undertaken by the Pro Tech Network, is to help set up new lines of business and save precious materials in use in most smartphones in the same process. If you want to know more about this initiative, you can contact our Microsoft fix it department.

The network will provide a huge array of services that range from in-depth repair manuals, an open community where individuals get to ask questions and share valuable information, small business accounting, cash-flow worksheets and marketing tips. Environmental Sustainability group manager from Microsoft, Josh Henretig posted in a blog post that the company wants to ensure that devices as much as possible are used for as long as possible in order to cut down on electric waste. He mentioned, “By providing free online training for people to set up a phone, tablet or PC repair business, we hope to increase the reuse of these devices.”

“Some studies have suggested that you would need to use a tablet or phone for tens of years before the usage footprint was larger than the manufacturing footprint. With this in mind, anything that can be done to extend the life of these smaller, low-power devices can have a positive environmental benefit.”

Henretig continued to add that most devices have materials that can be reused once extracted from the parent device. “With mobile electronics containing valuable and often scarce resources, including copper, gold, lead, zinc, beryllium, tantalum and coltan, they represent a large materials resource that can be 'mined' by recycling them to help build the next generation of devices. “ The entire premise behind this new venture is to popularize reuse and recycle and create a generation of DIY enthusiasts who are capable of reusing “Junk”.

Microsoft seems to have found the right partner since iFixit has been a popular service which has experience in fixing devices that are hard to repair. If this initiative takes traction, it might make a slow but steady change to the extremely high e-waste that is generated in the recent years. The accumulation of this waste will cause adverse effects to the environment if it continues to remain unchecked. Contact our Microsoft fix it solution to know more about the harmful effects of untreated e-waste.

Installing Windows 8 Directly From Hard Drive

If you are having a netbook or desktop that you wish to install Windows 8 into, but do not have a DVD drive or USB port for whatever reason, you can follow the steps that are explained below. This method will allow the user to boot and install Windows operating system directly from the hard drive. To do this, you will have to plug the hard drive into another computer, prepare the hard drive, place it in your PC and then install the Windows 8 OS as usual.

Preparing The HD With Windows 8 Setup

• Connect the hard drive to another computer. 
• Format the hard drive to NTFS (Quick format works fine). 
• Copy the following files from Windows 8 ISO of DVD. 

Boot, Sources, Bootmgr

Making the Hard Drive Bootable 

• Using Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 7 or Windows 8, open Command prompt as Administrator. 
• Type in the following commands (replace x with what applies to your HDD) 

Diskpart, list disk, select disk X, list partition, select partition X, active, exit, and X:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 X:

• You may now Exit and Shutdown the PC. 

If you are working on a 32-bit system and you wish to install 64-bit Windows 8 Os, you may get issues running the last command. The solution to this issue is to use a Pc that has the 64-bit version of Windows 8 OS. If you have 32-bit Windows 8 DVD, you may copy bootsect.exe from it and then replace the 64-bit one.

Booting and installing Windows

Place the hard disk back to the target machine. Ensure that BIOS is configured to boot from hard disk. If everything is okay, you will see the blue Windows logo and setup will load. You may then install Windows 8 as usual, but make sure you do not format the hard drive this time; otherwise, it will delete the setup files of Windows 8 too!

Final Steps/Housecleaning

• Once Windows 8 is installed, edit the boot menu after installing Windows. 
• Press the Windows and R keys together, type msconfig in the Run line and press Enter. 
• Click on the Boot tab that is located at the top. 
• Click on the OK button and then select Exit without restart.

These are the steps to Install Windows 8 directly from the hard drive of your computer. For further help, you may contact our tech support team.

Microsoft Leaves Windows 7 Vulnerable

One of the things about Microsoft is that they do some absurd things to promote their new operating systems. The recent blunder that the company did was releasing a patch for fixing the issues with their latest Windows 8.x franchise leaving behind their most popular operating system Windows 7. According to the latest surveys, even after the release of the Windows 8.1 operating system, Windows 7 holds more than fifty percent of the market. The fact was found by two independent security researchers, who built a tool to test the Windows 7 vs Windows 8 libraries.

After comparing about 900 libraries, the researchers were able to conclude that while Microsoft patched the security issues with zero day attacks on Windows 8 operating system, they have left their popular operating system Windows 7 ajar. One of the security researchers, Moti Joseph commented on the issue as follows, "If Microsoft added a safe function in Windows 8, why does it not exist in Windows 7? The answer is simple, it’s money -- Microsoft does not want to waste development time on older operating systems. They want people to move to higher operating systems."

In their Windows 7 vs Windows 8 analysis of different libraries in the operating systems, they were able to find that four security functions were updated in Widows 8 while the Windows 7 libraries were left untouched. The researchers stated that it is simple to create the tools and Governments or hackers could make use of the tool for getting information from Windows 7 devices. If the hackers find the missing patches in Windows 7, they would be able to exploit the issue for their needs. If you consider the stake here, it is better to either release a patch for Windows 7 or upgrade to Windows 8.

When we approached Microsoft for commenting on the allegations, the company spokesperson stated as follows, "We follow an extensive process to develop security updates for all supported devices and services, involving a thorough investigation, update development, and testing for compatibility among other operating systems and applications. We are continually working to improve our products and we encourage researchers to coordinate vulnerability disclosure with Microsoft in order to help protect customers.”

With the company intimidated about the issue, we can hope that the patch for Windows 7 would be soon released and the issue will be fixed.

Using Microsoft Outlook Rules

Microsoft Outlook is considered one of the most advanced and user-friendly applications, owing to a number of sophisticated features available in the program. The main Outlook features include a calendar, journals, task manager etc. that enable the users to successfully schedule their appointments and also remember the important days in their day-to-day life. In short, one can say that Outlook is a must have application for all business professionals. There is also a dedicated customer service team by the name Outlook problems and help support that troubleshoots and fixes the issues related to this application.

In addition to this, the email program also serves as an excellent personal information manager for the users. This means that the application stores the contact and personal information of the users in specific folders. In Outlook, you can also use rules while organizing the information. This would help you to sort the emails into folders based on different aspects that will help you to know about the sender of the email, type of messages, primary recipient on the email etc. In addition to this, you can also use this option to flag messages you receive from specific people in your Outlook application.

If you don’t know how to make rules in Microsoft Outlook, you can use the following instructions provided by the Outlook help and support team.

• In the first step, you need to click on Tools followed by Rules and Alerts and then on New Rule. Here, you can click on Start From a Blank Rule option. 
• Now, you need to select the Check Messages option after Sending and then click on Next. Make sure you check off with specific words in the subject. Once you have entered it, click on specific words and decide on a distinct keyword for your rule. Now, Click on Add, OK and then on Next. Meanwhile, you can also call up the Outlook help number anytime to get more information on using the Rules option in your Microsoft Outlook program. 
• Now, you need to uncheck ‘move a copy to the specified folder’ and then click on the specific folder. You can choose it from the available list of options and then click on Finish. 

By following these steps, you can use the rules option in Microsoft Outlook application. If you’d like to know more about the Outlook features, feel free to contact our Outlook technical support team.

Making The Switch From Windows 7 To Windows 8

Windows users are generally hesitant when it comes to upgrading to the latest Microsoft OS. And, this is for a good reason. Microsoft sometimes fails to meet with user expectations, and many users later go back to the old OS they upgraded from. This has happened this time around as well. Soon after the release of Windows 8, the internet was flooded with Windows 7 vs Windows 8 comparisons pointing out many flaws in the new OS.

Is upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8 a good idea?

Windows 8 is a different OS altogether, and has an entirely different user interface. The OS options and settings are arranged in a different way, and the Start Menu has been completely removed from the platform. So, all the Windows 7 vs Windows 8 arguments start with these changes in the OS design and user interface.

Clearly, Microsoft designed this new OS Metro UI for touch screen devices. Microsoft took cue from the popularity of touch screen oriented operating systems and tried to apply the same concept in latest Windows OS. This was indeed necessary, but the way they went about it was somewhat wrong.

Microsoft introduced the same smartphone-style UI in the desktop and laptop versions of Windows 8. So, if you are going to switch from Windows 7 to Windows 8, it might be a good idea to first install the trial version to see if you can manage to use the Metro UI on a traditional mouse and keyboard device.

Though Windows 8 is designed to work in the desktop mode too, this does not function as smoothly as the full version desktop operating systems like Windows 7 or XP. Clearly, the desktop mode is meant only as an optional feature as Microsoft bet heavily on their new Metro UI.

Therefore, if you want to upgrade to Windows 8, it is better to go to Windows 8.1 OS directly, which comes with the option for booting to Windows desktop mode directly. Yet again, you will not find the Start menu in the desktop mode either. In Windows 8.1 though, there will be a Start button, which will give some of the useful OS options and a link to the Windows Start Screen apps instead.

If the online rumors are true, the full Start Menu will come back in Windows 9 OS. So perhaps, you should wait until then before you upgrade from Windows 7.