Tweaking Your ClearType Settings with the Windows 7 Control Panel Application
Several years ago Microsoft built a website that you could visit to adjust your font settings to make your text look good on LCD type monitors.
In Windows 7 this function is now covered by a Control Panel app and can be accessed by typing ClearType in the Start Menu search box.
Running this program will start the ClearType applet and get you started to improving the clarity of your onscreen fonts. Although it is intended to help out with LCD monitors it could be worthwhile to run this on your standard CDRT monitor – no harm in trying anyway.
This first screen is where you turn ClearType on and off.
The first check the app does is to make sure your monitor is running in its native resolution. This will go a long way in improving your screens readability. I recommend you use this native resolution for the best results.
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The next four screens will show you blocks of text and you need to click on the one that looks the best on your monitor. You will see a blue square around your selection.
Once you are complete you get the final screen and you can click Finish to close the app.
I find tweaking the ClearType settings really clears up my monitors – how did it do for you?
Setting Up Windows 7 Parental Controls
One of the features built into Windows 7 is the ability for you to apply usage controls to other users of the same PC. In Windows 7 this is called Parental Controls.
I will say this up front – it is limited in what it can control out of the box. You have to install other parental control software from third parties to lock down other areas outside of its defaults. One third party provider is Windows Family Safety which you can download from http://download.live.com
Initially you can control a users usage times, game access based on either ratings or game by game and specific program access.
To get started just type Parental Controls into the Windows Start menu search box and hit return.
Here is what the third part menu looks like if you have Windows Family Safety Installed:
In order to use Parental Controls there must be a user account for the individual you wish to set controls for. Either click the account you want to apply controls to or click on the shortcut to create an account for that user.
Here is the main setup page that you will operate from to setup the three different levels of control. You have to return here to access the different areas you can place controls on.
When you click on the Time Limits option you will get the above screen and by clicking in the blocks and turning them blue that will set the time frames the user can sign into the system. Blue is blocked and clear is allowed.
The next option to control for the user is access to Games. When you click on the games option back on the main page you will get this screen. On here are two main options – Control games by rating or by specific installed game program.
On the ratings control page you can either choose a rating level of control or get more specific with the types of things any game contains. There is a long list of options on this page to choose from.
The second option of the main Games control page allows you to control games by name.
The final option for controlling a users access is program specific and above you can see what that selection page looks like. Just click the box next to the program you do not want the user to have access to. The system will search for all installed programs to populate this screen. If a program does not show up here you can browse to one with the button on the bottom of this page.
When a user accesses their account it will show a dialog box when they attempt to access a blocked program:
Here is what the games page looks like when their are blocked games:
If you do click on one of those blocked games you will get a notification window similar to the program blocked one:
That is the extent of the blocking and control abilities that are built into Windows 7. In my opinion the most useful feature is the times of access. For those of you with children this can be a great tool to limit their individual access over the course of a day.
I hope this proves helpful and would be interested in hearing how you implement these controls.
Windows 7 Release Candidate Shut Downs and Your Data
As I wrote about last month – the Windows 7 Release Candidate will be expiring soon. That posting describes exactly what you will experience during the expiration period which actually started back on 15 Feb and running until 01 June 2010.
However, I just got the Exploring Windows Newsletter and it is telling me something that I did not mention in that post last month. I think it is quite important and I will let the Windows 7 Team tell you directly from the newsletter:
It’s time to upgrade from the Windows 7 Release Candidate
While most people who tested Windows 7 have now moved to the final version, some are still running the Release Candidate. If you haven’t moved yet, it’s time to replace the RC.
Starting on March 1, 2010 your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Your work will not be saved during the shutdown.
The Windows 7 RC will fully expire on June 1, 2010. Your PC running the Windows 7 RC will continue shutting down every two hours and your files won’t be saved during shutdown. In addition, your wallpaper will change to a solid black background with a persistent message on your desktop. You’ll also get periodic notifications that Windows isn’t genuine. That means your PC may no longer be able to obtain optional updates or downloads requiring genuine Windows validation.
To avoid interruption, please reinstall a prior version of Windows or move to Windows 7. In either case, you’ll need to do a custom (clean) install to replace the RC. As with any clean installation, you’ll need to back up your data then reinstall your applications and restore the data. For more details about replacing the RC, see the Knowledge Base article KB 971767. For more information, visit the Window 7 Forum.
Thanks again for helping us test Windows 7.
The Windows 7 Team
All of the bolding is original from the newsletter and is the key piece. Your work will not be saved during those every 2 hour shut downs!
Upgrade, Upgrade, Upgrade.
Getting to Program Shortcut Properties via the Windows 7 Taskbar
Two weeks ago I wrote about how you can Open Windows Live Mail in Newsreader Mode where I explained how to open up Microsoft’s Windows Live Mail in Newsreader only mode. So far I have gotten good feedback on that story and it was one of those readers who set me straight on a step I said was not possible.
You see in the previous post I stated that you could not get at the shortcut properties for programs that had icons on the Windows 7 taskbar:
There is a way to get it to open up directly in newsgroup mode but in Windows 7 it takes a few extra steps of negotiating your local directories to modify the programs shortcut that resides on the Windows 7 Taskbar.
Well that is not exactly true and thanks to Justin from the website Fortunate I can share that tidbit with you.
I was correct in that you can not directly click on the Windows 7 Taskbar icon to get at the shortcuts properties. What you have to do is Right Click in order to get the Windows 7 Jumplist for that program to pop up. At that point just cursor/mouse over the program icon in the jumplist and Right Click again.
With that you will get access to the shortcut properties to any program pinned to your Windows 7 Taskbar.
Thanks for the tip Justin.
Microsoft Releases Four More Free Windows 7 Themes
Microsoft has made four more unique themes available for Windows 7 at their Personalization Gallery.
Here is what you will find:
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You can also check out my collection of Windows 7 themes for download at WindowsObserver.com.
Patch Tuesday for 09 February 2010 is Approaching
The first batch of security updates for Microsoft Windows and Office will be released next Tuesday, 09 Feb 2010. There are 13 issues that are being addressed in this month’s Patch Tuesday.
Some of the initial details:
- 11 impact Microsoft Windows
- 2 impact Microsoft Office
- 5 have a severity rating of Critical
- 7 have a severity rating of Important
- 1 has a severity rating of Moderate
- The Windows versions affected are:
- Windows 2000
- Windows XP
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows Vista
- Windows Server 2008
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows 7
- The Office versions affected are:
- Office XP
- Office 2003
- Office 2004 for Mac
This month will also include the usual Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool as well.
Microsoft will release more detailed information about each issue on Patch Tuesday. If you want to receive these advance notifications just head over to the Microsoft Technical Security Notifications page and sign up.
Open Windows Live Mail in Newsreader Mode
If you use Windows Live mail solely for reading your newsgroups like I do then it can slow you down a click or two when it opens in its default mail mode.
There is a way to get it to open up directly in newsgroup mode but in Windows 7 it takes a few extra steps of negotiating your local directories to modify the programs shortcut that resides on the Windows 7 Taskbar.
Now I know not everyone likes the Windows 7 Taskbar – that is OK. I for one do like it because it brings a ton of functionality that I never got with the Windows Vista Quick Launch toolbar. One of the things you could do though with the Quick Launch toolbar was Right Click on the shortcut and access its properties directly.
In the Windows 7 Taskbar that is not possible:
Windows Live Mail Right Click Jumplist
Notice in the above screenshot there is no Properties menu item.
So what you need to do is make sure you show hidden files, folders and drives. Type in Folder Options on your Start Menu search box and hit return. Go to the View tab and click the radio button marked Show hidden files, folders and drives
Click OK to exit the dialog.
Now you can open Windows Explorer and browse to the hard drive where your user data is stored, normally C:, and drill down as follows:
C:UsersUser NameAppDataRoamingMicrosoftInternet ExplorerQuick LaunchUser PinnedTaskbar
There you will now see all of the programs that are pinned to your taskbar – each represented by their respective shortcuts. Yes, the Windows 7 Taskbar icons are located in a sub-directory of a Quick Launch folder 
If you Right Click on the Windows Live Mail shortcut you will get the context menu that contains a menu item to the shortcuts properties:
Just Left Click on Properties and you will get the shortcuts property dialog. In the Target box type /news and make sure you have a space between the last quotation mark and the slash character.
Windows Live Mail Shortcut Command Line Option for News Mode
Once you have done that click OK and you can now exit out of Windows Explorer. Make sure you return to the Folder Options dialog and re-hide your files and folders by clicking the Don’t show hidden files, folders or drives radio button.
Now if you click on the Windows Live Mail icon on your taskbar it will launch directly in newsreader mode and allow you to access the newsgroups you read directly.
How to Install, Reinstall, or Uninstall Windows
Looking for a handy resource to take you step by step through the process of installing, reinstalling or uninstalling Windows?
Leave it to the folks in Redmond to give you just that with this handy guide to doing all of those things on Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP. They even provide guidance to performing upgrades for Windows Vista and Windows XP to the newer OS’s.
Interested in a dual boot between two versions of Windows on your system? They have instructions for doing that as well.
There are also links to XPS and PDF files that you can print out and use as you perform some of these tasks and videos showing these steps you need to take.
I know I see a lot of questions across Twitter, in newsgroups and forums asking how to do these steps so it is good to see such a thorough resource be made available to everyone.
Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista RTM End of Support Approaching
If your still running Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista Release to Manufacturing (RTM) then your quickly coming up on needing to update your systems or you could lose the ability to receive technical support, including Windows Updates, for your PC’s.
This summer, on 13 July 2010, four different Microsoft Operating Systems will come to the end of their Microsoft Support Lifecycle or MSL. If your running any of them then you will be required to act or lose access to system updates.
- Windows 2000 Professional with Service Pack 4 and Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 4 will both reach the end of their extended support period. Anyone that is currently running those systems in July will need to move to a supported version of Windows so they can receive updates and support.
- Windows XP with Service Pack 2 will no longer be the supported Service Pack for Windows XP. You will have to download Windows XP Service Pack 3 or upgrade to a newer version of Windows such as Windows Vista Service Pack 2 or Windows 7. See How to obtain the latest Windows XP service pack to track down the latest Service Pack for Windows XP.
- Windows Vista RTM will no longer be supported and you will need to upgrade to at least Windows Vista Service Pack 2 or Windows 7. See How to obtain the latest Windows Vista service pack to find the latest Service Pack for Windows Vista.
Good Luck with your migration, upgrades or updates. Make sure you back up all of your data before you start!
Easily Identify a Phishing E-Mail Attempt
It is a never ending battle fending off the efforts of others to get at your personal information. These days the most direct route taken is through your email account. Phishing attempts in email look very much like they are from the company the email is purported to be from. They use the same graphics, logos, fonts, etc.
You can use your Junk Mail filters to try and keep stuff out of your inbox but stuff will get through. So what do you do?
Well my goal today is just to show you on the surface how you might recognize a phishing attempt without even looking at the intricate details in the properties of the email. Some of the signals are right there on the surface for you to see and catch.
Take for example this email:
Looks pretty straight forward and I have not been on AOL AIM in a very long time so the premise of the email makes sense. Two things though caught my eye and helped me identify the phishing attempt:
- The email address that this was sent to, which I removed for display, is an email address that I would not have used with AOL AIM.
- By hovering my mouse cursor over the link in the email I see that the link is not to the AOL AIM site. The link actually begins with http://update.aol.com but then it has an additional domain name behind that. Upon initial hover someone might see just that beginning and think the rest is a typical string of characters that are fairly typically in links these days.
So with just those two things I easily ID’d this email as a phishing attempt. Be careful and safe out there. Taking those extra few seconds to look at an email before clicking anywhere. It will pay off by keeping your system clean and running.
See that one email had three very unfriendly friends with it. Now I clicked on that link knowing I was protected my Microsoft Security Essentials – I do not recommend you do that at home no matter what.
Stay safe out there when your on the net or reading email.
