Laura took off this week for some much needed R&R but the boys of Ping took the reigns and found all these hot stories being talked about all over Microsoft:
Microsoft Live Labs: Pivot
News for early Win7 Testers
The boys talk FaceBook?!?!?
Stepping up the search assault
oh…and I guess they felt the need to Bring THIS Back…
Show Notes & Links from Help Desk Episode 1 (Pilot)
1. Bas (from the Channel 9 forums) [8:33]
How do I change the program associated with an extension when you choose ‘edit’ from a file’s context menu?
Answer: Gov says that this must be edited manually in Windows 7
A Bing search finds this 3rd party app for Windows Vista and Windows 7 that claims to be able to edit file associations (including “Edit”): http://defaultprogramseditor.com/
2. @r*er (via Twitter) [9:37]
@ch9live What is the easiest way to have a window maximized across multiple screens?
Answer: Chris suggests: http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/
3. CodySmith (via FriendFeed) [12:32]
ok what is the differences between home premium and ultimate do you really need ultimate?
Answer: Jamie says check out the Products compare page to see the differences between the different versions.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare
4. JoshRoss (via Channel 9 forums) [14:02]
How do I get cmd.exe to run in full-screen mode, with Windows 7, when Aero Glass is enabled?
Answer: Gov says that this is not possible. You can run command prompt in full screen however you will still see the Windows 7 UI/chrome
5. MadHugh (via FriendFeed) [16:05]
How do you use the play to feature in a home where the family already has a big plasma and wants to stream from a laptop. It looks like Western Digital has a 1080p DLNA add on box shown at CES
Answer: Gov says Windows 7 will automatically detect DLNA devices on the same HOME network as your Windows 7 machines.
More info about Windows 7 and DLNA: http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/NicFill/Windows-7-Play-To-in-Action/
6. albertoslopez (via Twitter) [18:45]
@ch9live Guys, Is there a way to remove the ugly-ass shortcut “arrow” from desktop shortcuts in Windows 7? Thanks. 2:14 PM Jan 27th from web
Answer: Jamie says there is a Registry hack that will remove the shortcut icon overlays but investigate/execute at your own risk.
A Bing search finds: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-v2-a-tweak-ui-for-windows-7-vista
7. Stilgar / Mihail (via email) [20:17]
Me and my coworkers are staying after work to play a few games of StarCraft. Every now and then Windows 7 crashes really hard. The game freezes and there is nothing you can do except for press the power button. Ctrl+Alt+Del does not work. The problem has occurred on all our computers randomly.
http://www.sevenforums.com/gaming/11659-starcraft-freezes-after-1-5-minutes-playing-13.html
As you can see the rate at which the game freezes varies (from once every 1-5 minutes to once every 10-15 hours in our case). The hardware configuration, driver versions, running software, etc. also varies greatly. Compatibility mode is useless. Some people suggest forcing the process to run on one and the same core but it seems that this does not help either. The most tech savvy guy in the thread says that it is a DirectDraw problem. There are other threads on other forums that contain the same “solutions” with many more people confirming that they do not work for example here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=93382¤tpage=9
Another interesting fact is that StarCraft works flawlessly on Vista.
Answer: Gov says this is a “Race Condition” issue. You can try stopping explorer.exe before launching the game by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to bring up task manager.
Richard says: You could also write a script that closes explorer.exe before launching StarCraft
8. Dr Herbie (from the Channel 9 forums) [23:46]
Occasionally (less so on Win7 than on Vista) my PC will freeze during the ‘Loading Windows’ stage. How do I go about figuring out what’s causing it?
Answer: Gov says try the Windows Performance Analyzer/Tool Kit to measure your systems boot performance: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc305187.aspx
Richard says: Unplug peripherals like USB devices to see if that fixes the issue
9. @r*er (via Twitter) [27:14]
@ch9live In brief, what occurs when you run an application in compatibility mode?
Answer: Gov says that one of the many things that compatibility mode does is “tell” the application running that the OS is something other than Windows 7
10. @xXCodySmithXx (via Twitter) [30:57]
@ch9live i have another question as well what do you guys think the best anti virus software is for windows 7?
Answer: Windows Security Essentials: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/ – it’s free, lightweight and accurate
11. W3bbo (from the Channel 9 forums) [33:41]
“How do I get Windows to stop searching inside *.zip and *.cab files, especially after I’ve extracted files so it returns double results?”
Answer: Gov says open the Folder Options dialogue (byz typing “folder options” into the start menu) select the Search tab and check/uncheck “Include compressed files (ZIP, CAB….)”
12. @mattwhiting (via Twitter) [34:45]
@ch9live Is there any way to cascade Word documents or Outlook emails with one click as you could with Vista?
Answer: Jamie says Hold shift + Right click the respective icon in the taskbar
13. @r*er (via Twitter) [36:19]
@ch9live running XP mode on win7. Now I am unable to run my old virtual machines because they are in a standby state. How can I fix this?
Answer: Unsure – Need more info on the problem
14. DannyMinick (via FriendFeed) [37:13]
I am using Windows DVD Maker and the software tells me that I need to trim my movie, as it exceeds the size available on the DVD. How do I do this?
Answer: Try the new Windows Live Movie Maker http://download.live.com/moviemaker/
15. Sabot (via Channel 9 forums) [48:59]
I want to upgrade my work laptop (Lenovo T400) to Windows 7. It currently runs XP Pro. I want to know will the group policies etc still work or is there some gottcha I need to be aware of? I’ve run the upgrade advisor and it’s given me allot of info about programs and drivers just not if it will bust any policies or configurations.
Answer: Gov says generally speaking the group policies in XP still apply for Windows 7.
Check out http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Group-Policy-management-for-IT-pros for more info.
Also http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd367850(WS.10).aspx
16. Sidney (via FriendFeed) [40:42]
Can you explain the process of explaining Windows 7 on a netbook?
Answer: Richard says use the official Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool: http://wudt.codeplex.com/
17. Carmine007 (via Twitter) [41:54]
@ch9live: is it possible to get taskbar to run directly like in xp on windows 7, I know i can enter directly through toolbar
Answer: Unsure – Need more info on the problem
18. IntelMan (via Channel 9 forums) [42:51]
Is there a tweak to make Windows Live Photo Gallery render faster with a calibrated profile? Perhaps this is a bug the Windows Live Team needs made aware of?
Answer: Unsure – Need more info on the problem
19 eInfinity (via Twitter) [42:20]
@ch9live I have 2 screens and I have XP. Can I have 2 mice. Can I use 2 mice at once? 2:12 PM Jan 27th from Chromed Bird
Answer: Gov says you can have two mice but only one cursor.
20. ZippyV (via Channel 9 forums) [45:14]
I’ve got a problem with Windows Vista. I’ve got a 7.1 speaker system attached and when I play music (doesn’t matter which media player) only the front 2 speakers are used. Why can’t I get music from all my speakers?
Answer: Gov says potentially two reasons. 1) your audio source may only have two channels 2) you may need updated drivers for your speaker system/sound hardware
Richard says what speaker configuration does your machine “think” it is setup for?
21. Sushovande (via Channel 9 forums) [47:55]
How do I remote desktop to my home computer from work? / How can I remote control a PC over the internet?
Answer: Richard says try Live Mesh – www.mesh.com
22. @wwejason (via Twitter) [49:39]
@ch9live You should Can you please explain the difference between Libraries and real folders in (Windows) 7 so that Joe User can understand.
Answer: Gov says folders/directories are the actual locations on your hard drive where the files are stored. Libraries are a collection of folders/directories – kind of like a collection of shortcuts in a single view
23. Simon (via Twitter) [53:10]
How can I change an office 2007 key later to upgrade to a higher/another version of office? Can it be done?
Answer: Unsure, check support.microsoft.com
24. Jay Pugh (via email) [54:25]
I have a question that relates to Windows 7 home Premium. My home network is 3 XP machines connected wired and wirelessly with a Linksys router. Each XP machine has shared folders that do not require a password. When you go to network, on Windows 7 pc, and view the three XP pc’s and try to open one of them Windows 7 asks for a user name and password for that one XP pc. On the other 2 XP pc’s you can click to open the pc and see and browse the shared folders. No request for a user name and password. I am stumped.
Answer: Gov says check the Windows 7 event log. Make sure all machines are on the same workgroup. Create a username/password on each machine – use the same username/password on each machine.
25. LiteBulb (via Twitter) [56:44]
Is there a way to share and sync your speech recognition training between machines?
Answer: Gov says unsure but probably – will investigate
26. @Da_Bear_Man (via Twitter) [57:26]
@ch9live can I use homegroup with one win7 and one winxp?
Answer: Richard says no. Homegroup is Windows 7 only. You can connect to the homegroup and interact like another machine on the network but you can’t join the Homegroup.
27. Prasad DV (via Email) [58:17]
I have an old laptop running on Intel BIOS without Hardware Virtualization support. How do I run my old Virtual PC vhd files on my system? Neither Microsoft Virtual PC nor Windows Virtual PC are supported on my system?
Answer: Gov says uninstall Windows XP Mode and install Virtual PC 2007 SP1 then install Virtual PC 2007 SP1 Editions and they should work.
Paul decided to take a little vacation so our good friend Adam stepped in to bring us the hottest stories on Microsoft Campus. Some are….
James Camerons Avatar & Microsoft
Office for Mac loves you!
FourSquare coming to Windows Mobile
Bing Twitter Maps
Farmville & MSN Games
Here’s a tip you might not have seen yet. If you go to http://www.bing.com/maps/explore, you’ll see a panel on the left. At the bottom of that panel on the right edge you’ll see a button called “Map Apps”. If you click that you’ll find 19 applications that run on top of Bing. Some of the apps include:
Chris Pirillo hosts the pilot episode of Help Desk – a new show on Channel 9 Live where we assemble a group of troubleshooting experts to answer your tech questions LIVE on the air.
Joining Chris in the Channel 9 studio were Gov Maharaj from the Windows Engineering team, Richard Bond from the Windows Install Test team and Jamie Sloan from Windows Customer Support.
Thanks to everyone that sent in their questions via the Channel 9 forums, Twitter (@ch9live), email and FriendFeed. We weren’t able to address every submission but we’ll do our best to respond to as many as possible over the next few days.
We’d really like to hear your feedback on the show. What did you like? What should we think about changing? How can we improve on the format? Did the timeslot work for you? Let us know in the comments section below, via Twitter (@ch9live) or good old email ch9live(AT)microsoft(DOT)com
Will there be another episode of Help Desk? Well that depends on you guys. Tell us what you thought of the pilot episode and if we feel the response is overall positive we’ll definately look at making Help Desk a regular feature on Channel 9 Live.
For more info on future Channel 9 Live events follow us on Twitter @ch9live
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Show Notes & Links
1. Bas (from the Channel 9 forums) [8:33]
How do I change the program associated with an extension when you choose ‘edit’ from a file’s context menu?
Answer: Gov says that this must be edited manually in Windows 7
A Bing search finds this 3rd party app for Windows Vista and Windows 7 that claims to be able to edit file associations (including “Edit”): http://defaultprogramseditor.com/
2. @r*er (via Twitter) [9:37]
@ch9live What is the easiest way to have a window maximized across multiple screens?
Answer: Chris suggests: http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/
3. CodySmith (via FriendFeed) [12:32]
ok what is the differences between home premium and ultimate do you really need ultimate?
Answer: Jamie says check out the Products compare page to see the differences between the different versions.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare
4. JoshRoss (via Channel 9 forums) [14:02]
How do I get cmd.exe to run in full-screen mode, with Windows 7, when Aero Glass is enabled?
Answer: Gov says that this is not possible. You can run command prompt in full screen however you will still see the Windows 7 UI/chrome
5. MadHugh (via FriendFeed) [16:05]
How do you use the play to feature in a home where the family already has a big plasma and wants to stream from a laptop. It looks like Western Digital has a 1080p DLNA add on box shown at CES
Answer: Gov says Windows 7 will automatically detect DLNA devices on the same HOME network as your Windows 7 machines.
More info about Windows 7 and DLNA: http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/NicFill/Windows-7-Play-To-in-Action/
6. albertoslopez (via Twitter) [18:45]
@ch9live Guys, Is there a way to remove the ugly-ass shortcut “arrow” from desktop shortcuts in Windows 7? Thanks. 2:14 PM Jan 27th from web
Answer: Jamie says there is a Registry hack that will remove the shortcut icon overlays but investigate/execute at your own risk.
A Bing search finds: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-v2-a-tweak-ui-for-windows-7-vista
7. Stilgar / Mihail (via email) [20:17]
Me and my coworkers are staying after work to play a few games of StarCraft. Every now and then Windows 7 crashes really hard. The game freezes and there is nothing you can do except for press the power button. Ctrl+Alt+Del does not work. The problem has occurred on all our computers randomly.
http://www.sevenforums.com/gaming/11659-starcraft-freezes-after-1-5-minutes-playing-13.html
As you can see the rate at which the game freezes varies (from once every 1-5 minutes to once every 10-15 hours in our case). The hardware configuration, driver versions, running software, etc. also varies greatly. Compatibility mode is useless. Some people suggest forcing the process to run on one and the same core but it seems that this does not help either. The most tech savvy guy in the thread says that it is a DirectDraw problem. There are other threads on other forums that contain the same “solutions” with many more people confirming that they do not work for example here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=93382¤tpage=9
Another interesting fact is that StarCraft works flawlessly on Vista.
Answer: Gov says this is a “Race Condition” issue. You can try stopping explorer.exe before launching the game by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to bring up task manager.
Richard says: You could also write a script that closes explorer.exe before launching StarCraft
8. Dr Herbie (from the Channel 9 forums) [23:46]
Occasionally (less so on Win7 than on Vista) my PC will freeze during the ‘Loading Windows’ stage. How do I go about figuring out what’s causing it?
Answer: Gov says try the Windows Performance Analyzer/Tool Kit to measure your systems boot performance: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc305187.aspx
Richard says: Unplug peripherals like USB devices to see if that fixes the issue
9. @r*er (via Twitter) [27:14]
@ch9live In brief, what occurs when you run an application in compatibility mode?
Answer: Gov says that one of the many things that compatibility mode does is “tell” the application running that the OS is something other than Windows 7
10. @xXCodySmithXx (via Twitter) [30:57]
@ch9live i have another question as well what do you guys think the best anti virus software is for windows 7?
Answer: Windows Security Essentials: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/ – it’s free, lightweight and accurate
11. W3bbo (from the Channel 9 forums) [33:41]
“How do I get Windows to stop searching inside *.zip and *.cab files, especially after I’ve extracted files so it returns double results?”
Answer: Gov says open the Folder Options dialogue (byz typing “folder options” into the start menu) select the Search tab and check/uncheck “Include compressed files (ZIP, CAB….)”
12. @mattwhiting (via Twitter) [34:45]
@ch9live Is there any way to cascade Word documents or Outlook emails with one click as you could with Vista?
Answer: Jamie says Hold shift + Right click the respective icon in the taskbar
13. @r*er (via Twitter) [36:19]
@ch9live running XP mode on win7. Now I am unable to run my old virtual machines because they are in a standby state. How can I fix this?
Answer: Unsure – Need more info on the problem
14. DannyMinick (via FriendFeed) [37:13]
I am using Windows DVD Maker and the software tells me that I need to trim my movie, as it exceeds the size available on the DVD. How do I do this?
Answer: Try the new Windows Live Movie Maker http://download.live.com/moviemaker/
15. Sabot (via Channel 9 forums) [48:59]
I want to upgrade my work laptop (Lenovo T400) to Windows 7. It currently runs XP Pro. I want to know will the group policies etc still work or is there some gottcha I need to be aware of? I’ve run the upgrade advisor and it’s given me allot of info about programs and drivers just not if it will bust any policies or configurations.
Answer: Gov says generally speaking the group policies in XP still apply for Windows 7.
Check out http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Group-Policy-management-for-IT-pros for more info.
Also http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd367850(WS.10).aspx
16. Sidney (via FriendFeed) [40:42]
Can you explain the process of explaining Windows 7 on a netbook?
Answer: Richard says use the official Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool: http://wudt.codeplex.com/
17. Carmine007 (via Twitter) [41:54]
@ch9live: is it possible to get taskbar to run directly like in xp on windows 7, I know i can enter directly through toolbar
Answer: Unsure – Need more info on the problem
18. IntelMan (via Channel 9 forums) [42:51]
Is there a tweak to make Windows Live Photo Gallery render faster with a calibrated profile? Perhaps this is a bug the Windows Live Team needs made aware of?
Answer: Unsure – Need more info on the problem
19 eInfinity (via Twitter) [42:20]
@ch9live I have 2 screens and I have XP. Can I have 2 mice. Can I use 2 mice at once? 2:12 PM Jan 27th from Chromed Bird
Answer: Gov says you can have two mice but only one cursor.
20. ZippyV (via Channel 9 forums) [45:14]
I’ve got a problem with Windows Vista. I’ve got a 7.1 speaker system attached and when I play music (doesn’t matter which media player) only the front 2 speakers are used. Why can’t I get music from all my speakers?
Answer: Gov says potentially two reasons. 1) your audio source may only have two channels 2) you may need updated drivers for your speaker system/sound hardware
Richard says what speaker configuration does your machine “think” it is setup for?
21. Sushovande (via Channel 9 forums) [47:55]
How do I remote desktop to my home computer from work? / How can I remote control a PC over the internet?
Answer: Richard says try Live Mesh – www.mesh.com
22. @wwejason (via Twitter) [49:39]
@ch9live You should Can you please explain the difference between Libraries and real folders in (Windows) 7 so that Joe User can understand.
Answer: Gov says folders/directories are the actual locations on your hard drive where the files are stored. Libraries are a collection of folders/directories – kind of like a collection of shortcuts in a single view
23. Simon (via Twitter) [53:10]
How can I change an office 2007 key later to upgrade to a higher/another version of office? Can it be done?
Answer: Unsure, check support.microsoft.com
24. Jay Pugh (via email) [54:25]
I have a question that relates to Windows 7 home Premium. My home network is 3 XP machines connected wired and wirelessly with a Linksys router. Each XP machine has shared folders that do not require a password. When you go to network, on Windows 7 pc, and view the three XP pc’s and try to open one of them Windows 7 asks for a user name and password for that one XP pc. On the other 2 XP pc’s you can click to open the pc and see and browse the shared folders. No request for a user name and password. I am stumped.
Answer: Gov says check the Windows 7 event log. Make sure all machines are on the same workgroup. Create a username/password on each machine – use the same username/password on each machine.
25. LiteBulb (via Twitter) [56:44]
Is there a way to share and sync your speech recognition training between machines?
Answer: Gov says unsure but probably – will investigate
26. @Da_Bear_Man (via Twitter) [57:26]
@ch9live can I use homegroup with one win7 and one winxp?
Answer: Richard says no. Homegroup is Windows 7 only. You can connect to the homegroup and interact like another machine on the network but you can’t join the Homegroup.
27. Prasad DV (via Email) [58:17]
I have an old laptop running on Intel BIOS without Hardware Virtualization support. How do I run my old Virtual PC vhd files on my system? Neither Microsoft Virtual PC nor Windows Virtual PC are supported on my system?
Answer: Gov says uninstall Windows XP Mode and install Virtual PC 2007 SP1 then install Virtual PC 2007 SP1 Editions and they should work.
45 weeks and going strong…Laura & Paul bring you the hottest stories that Microsoft had to offer:
Helping Haiti
Xbox wants to take over your living room
Live streaming sports!!
Bing and purge
…more help for Haiti
Bing Maps has been updated with post-earthquake images from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. According to Chris Pendleton the new imagery comes from Digital Globe’s Worldview 2 satellite (the one launched in the rocket with the Bing logo.) Updated imagery will be added as it comes in. MSNBC.com has created a Photosynth from some images from Haiti and an HD-View image from GeoEye satellite imagery.
You can find a list of charitable organizations helping in Haiti here at MSNBC.
On a special This Week on Channel 9, Dan and Brian do a month-to-month recap of the hottest stories in 2009.
- January: Windows 7 Beta launches at CES
- February: This Week on Channel 9 turns 1
- March: MIX09, Silverlight 3 beta, IE8 RTM
- April: Channel 9 Turns 5 (no link)
- May: VS2010 Beta 1, Windows 7 RC (no link)
- June: Project Natal
- July: Expression 3 RTM
- August: Windows 7 RTM
- September: AJAX CDN, Web PI, WebSiteSpark and our beer taste test
- October: Windows 7 available for everyone, Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2, and the Visual Studio Documentary
- November: PDC – Azure, Silverlight 4, Channel 9 Live, and cool Coding4Fun projects
- December: Bing maps goes Silverlight, adds Streetside and a number of other features, Channel 9 China launches
Favorite stories of the year:
- Brian’s pick: Hacking construction signs
- Dan’s pick: Revolution 9 – Channel 9 adds lots of new content including Channel 9 Live, Training Courses, C9 Lectures, Documentaries, Classic C9 videos, fun videos, 3D videos, scary videos, and more
Paul and Laura take a look back at the big news for Microsoft this year- and in no particular order they are…
Windows 7!!!
VM ware vs. Microsoft
The Cloud! The Cloud!
Windows Mobile grabs headlines
Microsoft gets a retail store! Inspires dancers…
Bing the decision engine
Laptop Hunter ads pack a punch
Netbooks heart Windows
and, more- including a heated debate over the much famed “Contra” code…
This week on Channel 9, we’re joined by Scott Hanselman and Jon Galloway to discuss the week’s top developer news, including:
- Bing blog – Bing announces a number of updates including using Silverlight, Streetside, integrated Photosynth, neighborhood outlines and integrated applications (Twitter, Traffic, etc)
- Laura Foy – First look at Streetside in Bing Maps
- VS Test Team - How to execute unit tests in parallel on a multi-CPU/multi-core machine
- Stephen Forte - How to use the Open Data Protocol visualizer to browse a Web service data model
- David Anson - Silverlight and WPF Data Visualization updated to support SL4/WPF4
- Clint Rutkas - Coding4Fun Projects at PDC
- Laura Foy – The PDC Geekfest party including the Drunktender contest
- Pete Brown – The Future of client app dev – WPF & Silverlight to converge
- Pinal Dave – How to build Comma Separated Values (CSV) from a table column
- Coding4Fun – Andy Beaulieu – Creating a Pinball game in Silverlight & Expression Blend and Farseer Physics, including 11-part video tutorial (Play demo)
Picks of the week:
- Dan’s pick: favstar.fm which tracks the most favorited tweets on Twitter
- Scott’s pick: Zeo Personal Life Coach – Tracks when you’re in deep sleep, REM, how often you wake up, and more
- Jon’s pick: John Sheehan - 130+ jQuery Code Snippets for Visual Studio 2010 make it so that you don’t have to remember jQuery syntax