Get Windows Essentials

You can download Windows Essentials at this link:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/essentials-home

Windows Update error 80070643

Windows Update error 80070643 can happen for several reasons. The most common cause is a problem with the .NET Framework installed on the computer. You might also encounter this error when installing updates for Microsoft Office 2003. If you were installing Microsoft Office 2003 updates when you received the error, follow the instructions in the "Microsoft Office 2003" section below. Otherwise, follow the instructions in the "Windows .NET Framework" section.

Top 10 Windows 8 Features

Here are the TOP 10 Windows 8 Features:

No. 10: Refresh and Reset
No. 9: File History
No. 8: Storage Spaces
No. 7: Client-side Hyper-V
No. 6: Secure Boot
No. 5: Live Performance and Reliability Charts
No. 4: Windows To Go
No. 3: Shared Media
No. 2: The Microsoft Account
No. 1: The Windows Store

Our next articles will be about one of these features :)

Windows 7 problems after updates

Fix a corrupted user profile

Your user profile is a collection of settings that make the computer look and work the way you want it to. It contains your settings for desktop backgrounds, screen savers, pointer preferences, sound settings, and other features. User profiles ensure that your personal preferences are used whenever you log on to Windows. If you tried to log on to Windowsand received an error message telling you that your user profile might be corrupted, you can try to repair it. You will need to create a new profile, and then copy the files from the existing profile to the new one.

Before you create a new profile

Occasionally, Windows might not read your user profile correctly—for example, if your antivirus software is scanning your computer while you try to log on. Before you create a new user profile, try restarting your computer and logging on with your user account again.

To create a new user profile

To create a new user profile, you must first create a new user account. When the account is created, a profile is also created.

The steps that you should follow will vary, depending on whether your computer is on a domain or a workgroup. To find out, see "To check if your computer is on a workgroup or domain" in What is the difference between a domain, a workgroup, and a homegroup?

Show all

My computer is on a domain

My computer is in a workgroup

To copy files to the new user profile

After you create the profile, you can copy the files from the existing profile. You must have at least three user accounts on the computer to complete these steps, including the new account you just created.

1. Log on as a user other than the new user you just created or the user that you want to copy files from.
2. Open the My Documents folder by clicking the Start button , and then clickingComputer. Double-click the hard disk drive that Windows is installed on (it's usually your C: drive), double-click Users, double-click the folder with the name of your account, and then double-click My Documents.
3. Click the Tools menu, and then click Folder Options.
   If you don't see the Tools menu, press Alt.
4. Click the View tab, and then click Show hidden files, folders, and drives.
5. Clear the Hide protected operating system files check box, click Yes to confirm, and then click OK.
6. Locate the C:\Users\Old_Username folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and Old_Username is the name of the profile you want to copy files from.
7. Select all of the files and folders in this folder, except the following files:
   • Ntuser.dat
   • Ntuser.dat.log
   • Ntuser.ini
8. Click the Edit menu, and then click Copy.
   If you don't see the Edit menu, press Alt.
9. Locate the C:\Users\New_Username folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and New_Username is the name of the new user profile you created.
10. Click the Edit menu, and then click Paste.
    If you don't see the Edit menu, press Alt.
11. Log off, and then log back on as the new user.
    If you have e‑mail messages in an e‑mail program, you must import your e‑mail messages and addresses to the new user profile before you delete the old profile. If everything is working properly, you can delete the old profile.

If the steps above do not fix the problem, you should contact your customer support provider for assistance. To find additional information about customer support options that apply to this computer, click the Start button , click Help and Support, and thenclick the More support options link at the bottom of the Help window.

Source:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Fix-a-corrupted-user-profile

iPhone won't sync in Windows 7

Irritated iPhone users are beginning to report major difficulties in getting their iPhone to sync with Windows 7 systems. Particularly 64-bit Windows 7 systems, based around the P55 chipset.

The iPhone is usually (though not always) recognised, but iTunes then complains that it can't connect to the unit because of an "unknown error", usually (though again, not always) 0xE8000065.

Disabling USB power management appears to be one solution.
Click Start, type DEVMGMT.MSC and press [Enter] to launch Device Manager,
then click View > Devices By Type. Expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section of the tree, right-click each USB Root Hub entry in turn,
select Properties > Power Management,
and clear "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".

Reboot your PC after this tweak and try again.

This works for some, but if you're out of luck then post comment and we'll help you.

Windows 7 Aero isn't running

If Windows 7 isn't looking its best - transparency has been turned off, say - then the Aero theme may not have been fully enabled on your system.

Click Start, type Aero, choose the "Find and fix problems with transparency and other visual effects" link, and click Next to launch the Aero troubleshooting wizard.
It'll try to identify and resolve and problems. And if it doesn't, then install the latest driver for your graphics hardware.

That could be all your system needs.

Some Aero features may be disabled in the Registry, though.
For example, if Aero Peek (the ability to make open windows transparent to display your desktop underneath) doesn't work for you, then launch REGEDIT, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM and make sure EnableAeroPeek is set to 1, rather than 0.

How to Disable and Remove Ads from Windows Live Messenger 2011

The ads blocks on Windows Live (MSN) Messenger can now display ads that contains image banner, rich media, in-banner video or animation, Flash ads expandable ads and even pop-ups. If you found the ads on Windows Live Messenger 2011 intrusive, here’s the trick and hack to disable and remove ads on Windows Live Messenger 2011.

How to Turn Off and Remove Ads from Chat Message Window of Windows Live Messenger 2011

1. On Windows Live Messenger main window, click on the Display Name, and select More Options. Alternatively, press Alt key to bring up the menu bar, and click on Tools -> Options.
2. On left pane, select Messages tab.
3. Unselect (untick) the check box of Show expanded footer in conversation windows option.
4. Click OK to remove ads display on chat message windows.

The trick above does not remove nor disable display ads on main MSN Messenger window with contact list. In addition, there is still text ads offering on the bottom of instant messaging chat windows. Use the hack below to block and stop the image or video ads and text ads from displaying. Note that the hack does not actually remove the ads placement. It simply stops the ads from loading by blocking the traffic to rad.msn.com, as the Windows Live Messenger client calls all the ads through single web address of rad.msn.com.

1. Open Notepad or any text editor as administrator (only in Windows 7 or Vista, not required in Windows XP).
2. Open to edit the hosts file located in the %WinDir%\System32\drivers\etc folder.
3. Append the following line to the end of the hosts file (after the last line):
   127.0.0.1     rad.msn.com
   Tip: Do not use 0.0.0.0 instead of 127.0.0.1 as it may cause Windows Live Messenger to freeze or not responding for a while on most action.
4. Save the modified file.
5. Restart Windows Live Messenger for the change to take effect.Windows Live Messenger will now no longer display ads. The usual spots which show advertisements will now have blank or white space, or show default Windows Live Messenger logo image.

With executable patching, A-Patch can remove much more unwanted features or functions for Windows Live Messenger client, including advertisement from main window, text advertisement in the IM window, “See More Offerings” items in the file menus, “Featured” section from the Emoticons “more” dialog box, Search Bar, “Connected to…” bar and more.