Category: Microsoft

How to Fix Windows Activation Error 0x80072F8F

The last thing you want to see during a Windows installation is an error message and particularly one which might not give you any helpful information on how to correct it (and not many Windows errors fall into that bucket). Anyway, this is a simple yet frustrating problem that I came across recently and I …

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The $50 Plugable Thin Client – A Cheap and Instant PC

Just wanted to share something that I came across on Kickstarter (and again, I am fighting the urge to splurge on supporting what I reckon is a great project). This project on Kickstarter is looking to bring out a USB device that will allow you to expand the use of a single computer and piggy back …

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Windows Live Brand to Sunset

It didn’t seem all to long ago that the Windows Live brand arrived to replace the tried but true MSN brand (which originally stood for Microsoft Network back in the old days when it was an ISP). Time does fly when we now realise that the Windows Live brand was introduced about seven years ago. …

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Obtain Great Windows 7 Desktop Backgrounds Everyday

While we probably don’t sit around gazing at our desktop background everyday it’s nice to be able to be surprised by something that looks spectacular. Bing has become noted for having a new image everyday on its landing page and, while there has been the ability to get two new wallpapers a week via RSS from …

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Slow or Infinitely Long Shutdowns on Mac OS X

Just thought I’d share a potential solution for a problem that I faced today. The copy of Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro had never been activated and given that I hadn’t used it in ages I thought I’d wipe it and replace the Windows installations on the laptop with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. …

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Will Existing Windows Phone 7 Devices Be Stranded?

If Microsoft is good at any one thing at the moment, it’s muddying the waters and casting doubt on the fate of existing devices and potential upgrades. I’m talking about nothing other than the uncertainty surrounding existing Windows Phone 7 devices and their ability to receive an upgrade to Windows Phone 8 (which will be …

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Beware of NTFS USB Drives and Encrypted Files

Perhaps an edge case for a lot of people out there but perhaps something worth considering if you have formatted your USB stick with NTFS rather than FAT or FAT32 or you use portable hard drives formatted with NTFS. Some corporations will enforce the use of folder encryption on your computer (rather than whole disk …

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Translator for Windows Phone 7

Translater - Panasonic Headphone Manual (German to English)

Here’s something that travellers might find handy if they find themselves in a bind. Microsoft has quietly developed an app that offers translation of typed text, optically recognised text (i.e. using your camera) and voice while using the power of its Bing platform to do the translation for you. Sure, there have been a few apps out …

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How to Shutdown Windows 8

I have had a number of people who are trying out Windows 8 that are stumped by how to actually execute a shut down. Since Windows 95, you could shut down a computer by clicking “Start” then “Shut down” but with Windows 8 that doesn’t work as the Start Menu has been replaced with the …

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Locate a Seemingly Missing Mouse Cursor

With screens of massive size and resolution all the way down to those tiny screens on netbooks it can be difficult to find the mouse cursor for whatever reason. There is however an easy way to locate your cursor on your screen by enabling a handy feature in Windows 7. Windows Vista: Click the “Start” …

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