Monday, November 4, 2013

Microsoft Includes Start Menu And Other Features In Windows 8

Microsoft has included many features in the Windows 8 operating system, making it one of the most modern and sophisticated versions. These novel features included Tiles replacing icons, a modern interface, more applications, etc. However, some users found it to be confusing, to the point of being more content with the earlier installments. Hence, now, Microsoft has decided to tweak some of the existing Windows 8 features. The newest version of Parallels Desktop brings a Windows 7-style Start menu and button to Windows 8. This simply means that if the user has a Windows 8 virtual machine running on Parallels Desktop 9, he can easily change to a Windows 7-style view by installing the Start8 and ModernMix add-ons. The Start8 add-on brings back the Start menu, and ModernMix runs the Metro-style applications in a window on the desktop. Parallels make these available as a single download in the virtual machine's settings.

According to Parallels, version 9 of their virtualization software improves the disk performance by 40 percent, startup and shutdown speed by up to 25 percent, suspend time by up to 20 percent, and 3D graphics and Web browsing speed by up to 15 percent. These would be surely exciting for the users, and it seems that Microsoft would finally be successful in retaining their customers. According to sources, the Start menu is available both in Like a PC mode, where Windows 8 is displayed as a window on the Mac computer, and in Coherence mode, which displays Windows applications as if they were Mac. Once you click the virtual machine icon in the dock in Coherence mode, you would see the Windows Start menu on your Mac desktop.

The menu is present as the Windows 8 features built-in application, which has access to Shutdown and Restart, the Control Panel, File Explorer, Disk Management, Command Prompt, and other system tools. Users can purchase the Parallels Desktop 9 now in versions 7 and 8, for an upgrade price of $49.99. However, a student edition is available for only $39.99. Anyone who bought Parallels Desktop 8 on or after August 15, can upgrade to version 9 for free. Parallels also came out with a new iPad app called Parallels Access, which provides remote access to the applications on host computers and virtual machines.

Hence, the plans to modify the existing features of Windows 8 would prove beneficial for Microsoft. Although, how far this would be successful is yet to be seen.

Steps To Retrieve The Compacted Emails In Outlook Express

Microsoft Outlook Express can be termed as an email application that is included with Internet Explorer. It was earlier known as Windows Mail, and later came to be known as Windows Live Mail. Outlook Express is a different program from the Microsoft Office Outlook e-mail client, which ships with Microsoft Office for Windows. The similar names lead many people to conclude that Outlook Express is a stripped down version of Outlook. The two programs do not share common code, but do share a common architectural perspective.

The messages compacted by Outlook Express are moved into an Inbox.bak file. This file is stored in the same folder as the Inbox.dbx file, in which the users’ regular inbox emails are located. Hence, according to Outlook Express help, the user should replace the Inbox.dbx file with the Inbox.bak file to retrieve these messages.

You can follow these simple instructions to recover the compacted emails in Microsoft Outlook Express, before seeking assistance from tech support.
  • In the first step, click the Tools option at the top of the window. Now, select Options. Click the Maintenance tab at the top of the window, followed by Store Folder.
  • In the next step, highlight the store folder address by pressing the Tab key on your keyboard, and then press Ctrl and C to copy it.
  • Now, close Outlook Express and select the Start button in the bottom left corner of the window. Now, click the Run option. You can also contact Outlook Express help to seek assistance with recovering the compacted emails.
  • Once you click the option, press the Ctrl and V buttons to paste the store folder address into the empty field, and select the OK option to open the store folder.
  • Now, right-click the Inbox.dbx file, then click Rename. Replace the .dbx portion of the file name with .old so that the file name reads Inbox.old. Now, click Enter to save the change.
  • In the next step, rename the Inbox.bak file replacing the .bak portion of the file name with .dbx, so that the file name is Inbox.dbx. Press Enter to apply the change to the file name.
  • Open the Outlook Express application, and then click Inbox at the left side of the window, to find the compacted message that you need to recover.
Hence, you can follow these steps to recover the compacted emails in Microsoft Outlook Express. For more information, check Microsoft’s official website.

How To Roll Back A Device Drive In Windows XP

Is one of the devices connected to your Windows XP computer not functioning properly? Let’s think of a situation where you suddenly start to have problems with your computer monitor. All was fine till yesterday and now you have annoying flickering on your computer display! What could have gone wrong? 

Often the problem could be with the device driver for that particular hardware component. If strange things happen, you can easily fix it by updating the device driver. Device drivers are small applications, which allow hardware devices such as sound cards, video cards and network devices to work on your computer. However, at times, an updated driver can cause problems and system instability. 

Here, in this section, you will learn how to restore a previous version of a device driver if a newly-installed driver causes system instability. This process is known as "rolling back" the driver to an earlier version. 

How to Roll Back to the Previous Version of a Device Driver

Device Driver Roll Back reinstalls the driver you were using previously and restores any driver settings that were changed when you added the new driver. Note that you cannot restore printer drivers with Device Driver Roll Back. The following Windows help guidelines will help you roll back a device driver to a previous version: 
  • Log in as Administrator into your Windows XP machine.
  • Go to the Start menu and click on Performance and Maintenance. Further, click on System to launch the System Properties window. 
  • From the System Properties window, click on the Hardware tab. Locate the Device Manager button and click on it. This will display the list of devices connected to your computer. To expand the list, click on the “+” sign next to the device type branch you want to work with. If you want to view video display drivers, click on the “+” sign next to Display Adapters.
  • Right-click the driver you want to adjust under the device type branch you selected and choose the option Properties. This will bring up the Properties window.
  • Click the Driver tab and then click on Roll Back Driver. You will now get a dialog box asking for your confirmation. Click Yes to confirm and restore the driver to a previous state. Repeat the same process to restore additional drivers. Close the Device Manager when you are done. 
Now that you have successfully restored the previous version of the device driver, you should no longer have any problem with the particular device. If this doesn’t fix your problem or in case you need any Windows help, contact the Microsoft Support Center.

How To Close Applications On A Surface Tablet

The Microsoft Tablet is Microsoft’s way of showing the tablet market that it has what it takes to come over and stay. Even the die-hard devotees of the iPad and the other tablets would find themselves hard pressed to approve of the fact that the Surface stands apart in the group. 

Enough of how good the Surface is and how it’s managed to aid Microsoft in carving and securing their own niche in the Tablet Market; let’s get on with how the device is supposed to be used. Even though most of the UI is intuitive and can be understood by any person worth his salt, there are cases where new users face trouble while opening or closing apps on the Surface, configuring email on it, setting up Wi-Fi on it, and streaming media etc., not to mention other problems that stem from what can only be classified as miscellaneous reasons. 

One such problem that users have encountered while handling the Surface is not knowing how to close the apps they’re done using. Even though there is nothing against you keeping them running in the background while you go about whatever other business you have, you still might want to scratch that “unfinished business” itch. The below Surface tablet tech support instructions would help you accomplish the task easily.

How to close the applications on your Microsoft Surface tablet
  • There are three ways to close an application running on your surface tablet; choose from among them. 
  • Tap at the top edge of the application window and drag it down to any place at the bottom of the screen. This will close the application. 
  • You can also use the keyboard shortcut on the Touch Cover if you want to close an application. Here’s how you do it: hit the key combination Alt + Fn on the touch cover and simultaneously hold down the play/pause button. This too will close the app for you. 
  • Lastly, you can use the traditional keyboard shortcut that has been in place since the dawn of the Windows OS: hit Alt + F4 to close the active application. 
If the above methods do not work for you, or cause the tablet to lag or hang, then there’s probably something wrong with it, and you’d do well to contact the surface tablet tech support team at Microsoft. Go online and find out how; they would definitely have a hotline number, or you can contact them online.