How to install Windows 7 on the new 27in iMac

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Windows 7 isn’t officially supported in Boot Camp just yet, but that doesn’t stop it working a treat most of the time. We have it installed on one of the new MacBooks in the Labs, but the gigantic 27in iMac proved to be much more problematic (we’ll have a full review of the monster in question later this week).

The problem occurs after the main Windows 7 installation has taken place. The system reboots, the Windows 7 logo circles into life and the desktop should appear – but all you get is blackness. The system is still running – press the Caps Lock key and you’ll see the light ping on – but you can’t see anything, indicating a problem with the iMac’s ATI graphics drivers.

Fear not, though. If you’ve just blown £1,350 on this beautiful beast and are now scratching your head as to why you can’t get it working, there is a workaround to crowbar Windows 7 onto it. (more…)

How to make the Windows 7 taskbar better in an instant

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

I’m a huge fan of the new Windows 7 taskbar. From Jumplists, to pinning icons to the taskbar, to the long-overdue option to juggle icons into whatever order you wish, it makes my working day precisely 62% easier.

However, there is one thing I’m not so keen on: the habit of piling multiple windows from the same application behind one another like a deck of cards, like so:

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How to stream Spotify to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and digital radios

Monday, September 7th, 2009

Spotify may have launched its iPhone and Android apps, but how about streaming the Spotify sounds to other devices in the home, such as games consoles and digital radios? After all, many of us have expensive speaker systems connected to the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, while the speakers found on the average laptop give even Barry White the nasally whine of the Bee Gees.

Although the Spotify software itself doesn’t support streaming to other devices, it’s perfectly possible to do so with the third-party software, Jamcast. What’s more, the Jamcast software is completely free of charge and (unlike the iPhone/Android software) you don’t need a premium Spotify account to take advantage.

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How to make stubborn 32-bit apps work on 64-bit Windows

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

By now you’ve hopefully seen my feature on 64-bit Windows in the latest issue of PC Pro. And perhaps you derived some comfort from my breezy assurances that “you don’t need to worry too much about application compatibility. Almost all modern 32-bit software should install and run flawlessly on a 64-bit edition of Windows.”

Well, of course, whenever you write something like that you’re asking for trouble. (more…)

The 10 best GMail Labs upgrades

Friday, July 10th, 2009

GMail already knocks rival webmail services into a cocked hat with its speed, storage capacity and breadth of features. However, there are plenty more power tools lurking in the ever fertile GMail Labs, which can help you tailor the service to your own needs.

To access GMail Labs, click on the little green science beaker icon next to your email address at the top of the GMail window.

1. Quick Links

Quick Links is an excellent tool for power users. It allows you to create one-click shortcuts to specific searches – so you could, for example, have easy access to any emails mentioning your company or a particular person. To create a Quick Link, type your search term into the GMail search bar and then click Add Quick Link from the Quick Links box in the left-hand panel (which only appears after you’ve enabled the Quick Links feature).

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How to create a photo cut-out

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

In our Give Your Kids The IT Edge feature in the new issue of PC Pro (which should be with subscribers shortly, and goes on sale on 16 July), we promised to show you how to create a cut-out photo. This will allow you to put your child into their very own computer game, using the Scratch software.

To create your cut-out you’ll need to take a full-length digital photo of your child on a plain (preferably white) background. We’re going to use the free photo-editing software, Paint.Net, but any decent photo-editing package should have similar controls.

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How to boost the performance of Windows 7’s XP Mode

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

There’s been plenty written about Windows 7’s new XP Mode since the launch of the Release Candidate – the most common criticism being that its performance sucks. 

That’s partly because, as alarming few of the critics have noticed, the Windows XP virtual machine is only assigned a meagre 256MB of RAM by default, which means it’s effectively running with the memory of a five-year-old PC. 

This situation can be very easily remedied. First shut down your virtual machine – hibernation won’t do, it’s got to be a full shut down. Then back in Windows 7 click Start | All Programs | Windows Virtual PC | Virtual Machines. Right click on the XP virtual machine and select Settings. You should see the screen below:

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How to create your own search engine in Windows 7

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

One of the rarely talked about new features in Windows 7 is federated search. This not only allows you to search for files on SharePoint servers or the company intranet as if they were stored locally on your PC, it also lets you search public websites from within Windows Explorer. 

Right now you’re probably asking why on Earth you’d want to search websites in Explorer when you’ve got a perfectly good web browser and Google for such purposes? Well, there are several advantages. First, Windows Explorer starts searching websites as you type, just like it does with locally-stored files, meaning the page you’re looking for often crops up before you’ve even finished typing the search terms. It’s blisteringly fast too – often quicker than the website’s own search engine.

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Making Windows 7 RC gorgeous with gamma

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Like many of you, I spent the weekend tinkering with the new Windows 7 release candidate. And, probably like many of you, I’ve been faintly disappointed at the complete absence of major new features, especially after we were promised “surprises”.

But I have to admit, the outlandish new “Characters” and “Scenes” themes have had me grinning like a Cheshire Cat. I never thought I’d say this, but this new edition of Windows really is beautiful.

And though it looks great out of the box, there’s one quick tweak I can recommend to make it look even better. (more…)

How to perform a hard reset of an HTC Touch Diamond2

Friday, April 24th, 2009

You may, like me about five minutes ago, find yourself wondering how to perform hard reset of an HTC Touch Diamond2. And you may, like me, look at the manual online. But it turns out the manual is wrong. The way to perform a hard reset of the Touch Diamond2 is:

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