Category: Operating Systems

Jan 28 2011

Emulating a Classic Controller on a Touchscreen – Why Bother?

By Boydo in Android, Gaming, Microsoft, Nintendo, Operating Systems, PS3, Sega, Sony, Technology, Wii, Xbox 360

No doubt the avid gamers amongst us have been all over the news of the Sony NGP (Next Generation Portable) AKA PlayStation Portable 2 plus the announcement that Android phones and tablets will be able to download PlayStation games from the PlayStation Store and play them using an emulator. Sony is planning to put some …

Android, controller, Gaming, Google, NGP, Nintendo, PlayStation, PlayStation Portable, PSP, Sega, smartphone, Sony, Street Fighter, Wii
2 comments

Jan 26 2011

The 2TB Barrier – What Does it Mean for You?

By Boydo in Apple, Hard Drive, Macintosh, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Storage, Technology, Windows 7, Windows Vista

Throughout last year I made a couple of mentions of the 2TB (two terabyte) barrier for physical storage in modern computers but didn’t take the opportunity to flesh out exactly what it means for the regular consumer out there. In this article I am going to explain why this is important and what you need …

2TB, 32-bit, 64-bit, barrier, BIOS, byte, EFI, exabyte, gigabyte, GPT, GUID, Hard Drive, kilobyte, Master Boot Record, MBR, megabyte, partition, petabyte, sector, solid state drive, SSD, storage, terabyte, zettabyte
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Jan 25 2011

Change Your Windows 7 Logon Screen Wallpaper

By Boydo in Imaging, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Technology, Windows 7, Windows 95

Another short and sweet tip for today. While some of us tend to leave many of the presentation features in Windows at their defaults some of us like to customise things to suit our taste. One such element of customisation is the wallpaper at the logon screen. Unfortunately, this has always been something fiddly to configure all …

32-bit, 64-bit, Microsoft, PowerToys, TweakUI, wallpaper, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 95
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Jan 24 2011

Adjust and Mute Volume for Individual Windows Applications

By Boydo in Interfaces, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Technology, USB, Windows 7, Windows Vista

Windows 7 Volume Mixer (Sound Device Selection)

Sometimes, you might have one or a few applications that will make noise on your computer for whatever reason on a regular basis or the cause of the sound is outside of your control (i.e. receiving instant messages, e-mail, etc). This can be particularly annoying if you are trying to concentrate on other things such …

audio, headphones, Microsoft, speakers, USB, Windows, Windows 7, Windows Vista
1 comment

Jan 21 2011

Watch the IPv4 Countdown

By Boydo in Android, Apple, Communications, Connectivity, iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Operating Systems, Technology

Well, it’s bound to get some additional press over the next couple of weeks but as another heads up the IPv4 address space is gradually running out. I covered this previously where I touched on various predictions over the years of when the IPv4 address space would be exhausted and a few of the benefits …

128-bit, 32-bit, IP address, IPv4, IPv6, network
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Jan 20 2011

Upgrade to Microsoft Security Essentials Version 2.0

By Boydo in Anti-malware, Antivirus, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Security, Technology, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

Microsoft Security Essentials - Manually Check for Software Updates

Quick tip for this evening. An update to Microsoft Security Essentials was released by Microsoft on 16 December, 2010 which saw the version number increment up to Version 2.0. This was after the second Tuesday of the month (AKA “Patch Tuesday”) where Microsoft releases patches and upgrades for its software through Windows Update. This meant …

Jan 19 2011

Improve Screen Readability – Increase Text Size

By Boydo in CRT, Display, Imaging, LCD, LED, MacOS, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Plasma, Technology, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

One complaint that I do come across after a user has had their screen set at its native resolution is that the size of the text on the screen has shrunk and, especially for smaller displays that run at high resolutions, can still be difficult to read. Luckily, you can increase the size of the …

CRT, display, DPI, LCD, LED, Mac OS X, Microsoft, native, Plasma, resolution, screen, Wincows 7, Windows, Windows Vista, Windows XP
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Jan 18 2011

Improve Screen Readability – Enable & Tune ClearType

By Boydo in Display, Imaging, LCD, LED, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Plasma, Technology, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

Leading on from yesterday’s article which looked at modern digital displays such as LCDs, LEDs and plasmas, the concept of the native resolution and how lower resolutions may not align with the physical rows and columns of pixels on a display. Today, I have another tip to further improve the readability of text on your screen. ClearType, …

ClearType, display, LCD, LED, light emitting diode, liquid crystal display, Microsoft, native, pixels, Plasma, resolution, sub-pixels, Windows, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
1 comment

Jan 17 2011

Improve Screen Readability – LCD Screen Native Resolution

By Boydo in CRT, Display, Imaging, LCD, LED, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Plasma, Technology, Windows 7, Windows 95, Windows Vista, Windows XP

It never fails to amaze me how many people do not take the time to optimise the readability of their screens particularly when they will be using it for many hours a day. I must have lost count of the number of times I have seen LCD screens running below their native resolution resulting in …

cathode ray tube, CRT, display, LCD, LED, light emitting diode, liquid crystal display, Microsoft, native, pixels, Plasma, resolution, Windows, Windows 2000, Windows 7, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows Vista, Windows XP
3 comments

Jan 15 2011

Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Release Imminent

By Boydo in Microsoft, Operating Systems, Security, Technology, Windows Phone 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows XP

Just a quick update for this evening. The rumour mills are in full swing with reports of the first service pack for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be released very soon. Furthermore, there have been leaked copies of pre-release builds of the unified service pack floating around on the web. As a …

Category: Operating Systems

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