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With our recently finished poll (Windows 7 – Love or Hate) we wanted to get our readers views on the Windows 7.  As you can see from the pie chart above (click to enlarge), 60% of our voters love windows 7, 8% hate it and 32% are yet to be swayed in either direction.  Here at PCToolbox we’re a big fan of Windows 7 and are recommending it to all our clients.  Whilst Vista was not a big hit with many users we believe that Microsoft have produced a class operating system in Windows 7 and have well and truly silenced the critics.

Check out more Windows 7 posts on Brandstar and PCToolbox

Ever been infected with a virus but not known what to do?  Well have no fear…PCToolbox is here…with a tutorial to help you remove the virus!

1. Firstly download the free version of Malwarebytes
2. Now you need to turn off System Restore. Use the following tutorials to aid you:
   For Windows 7
   For Vista
   For XP
3. Boot your machine into ‘Safe Mode’. This is done by restarting your computer and immediately when it starts to come on keep tapping F8 until you get a menu on the screen to choose Safe Mode.
4. Now install and run Malwarebytes. Remove whatever the software finds.
5. You may have to repeat step 4 a few times!
6. Now reboot your machine normally and run Malwarebytes 1 more time assuming it finds nothing
7. Turn ‘System Restore’ back on. Use the following tutorials to help you:
   For Windows
   For Vista
   For XP

Please Note – This tutorial is designed for those who are competent computer users. All PCToolbox advice is produced in the best interest of the reader to help maintain a healthy working machine and therefore cannot be held responsible for any problems that may occur. If you’re unsure about any of the above advice please contact your local IT Technician.

On the odd but very rare occasion you may have to turn off System Restore. System Restore is a component on Microsoft Windows operating systems which allows for the rolling back of system files, registry keys, installed programs, etc., to a previous state in the event of malfunctioning or failure. This tutorial will show you how to switch it on and off if you’re using Windows 7.

Turn Off System Restore in Windows 7

• Firstly, click the windows start orb and right-click on Computer. Then select ‘Properties’
  
• Select ‘System Protection’
  
• Click ‘Configure’
  
• Then select to turn-off system protection
  
• Finally Click OK, read the message and then click ‘Yes’ to continue
  

Turn System Restore On – Windows 7

• Firstly, click the windows start orb and right-click on Computer. Then select ‘Properties’
  
• Select ‘System Protection’
  
• Select ‘Restore system setting and previous versions of files’ and click OK
  

Our most recent poll was ‘Will you upgrade to Windows 7 straight away?’  50% of voters said yes they would compared to the 29% saying no and the 21% saying maybe.

To those who said no or maybe we want to urge you to upgrade to Windows 7.  Here at PCToolbox and Brandstar we’re huge fans of the new operating system.

If you’re not sure about the upgrade and you’d like to find out more check out our Windows 7 posts on PCToolbox and Brandstar!  Over the next few weeks we’ll continue to add to our range of Windows 7 posts!

So to conclude…buy Windows 7!

Last week we wrote a tutorial for the new Image Resizer for Windows 7 and Vista…and now it’s time to review it!  The software has been developed by CodePlex and is free to download!

As a whole we’re very impressed with the program and think it’s got a lot of potential.  The software itself is very easy to use and provides a very effective and efficient service.

If the product was to be developed further we’d like to see a couple of new features added.  Firstly, we think that there should the option to select the image compression.  By this we mean you can select the extent to which the image quality is compromised.  Secondly, there could be some basic image editing software within the application.

Overall we’re impressed and think it’s worth downloading!

See Also:
Downloading and Installing – Image Resizer for Windows 7 and Vista

Just over 1 1/2 years ago we wrote a post titled ‘Quick Tip – Resize Multiple Images Quickly‘.  One of the programs we mentioned in the blog only worked for machines running XP.  However, a company called CodePlex have adapted the software so it can be used for Windows 7 and Vista machines!  Here is a tutorial for the software:

Downloading and Installing

1. Before you do anything you need to download the program.  The software can be downloaded from phototoysclone.codeplex.com.
2. Click ‘Download Now’ on the right
   
3. Click ‘Agree’ if you are willing to agree to the license.
4. Next save the file to your computer by clicking ‘Save File’ (Firefox Users, wording may vary between Web Browsers)
   
5. Now you need to open the downloaded file.  Internet Explorer users should click ‘Open’.  Firefox users should go to the downloads window and double-click on then file then click ‘OK’.
   
6. Click ‘Run’
7. Now follow through the installation process until the end.
8. Once the installation process is complete you’re ready to get resizing!

How to Resize One Image

1. Firstly ensure that you’ve downloaded and installed the software.
2. Secondly locate the image you wish to resize.  For example, most images on computers are stored in ‘my pictures’.
3. Once you’ve found the image you wish to resize right click on it and select ‘Resize Pictures’ (click to enlarge image)
   
4. If there is size option you’re happy with select it but clicking on it and then click OK.
   
   Alternatively, if you wish to choose specific dimensions click ‘advanced >>’.  This gives you the opportunity to create custom dimensions, ask the tool to make images smaller but not larger and also ask the tool to resize originals and not make copies.  When happy click ‘OK’
   
5. Your images will then appear resized (see example below for users who chose for copies to be made)
   

How to resize a selection of images in one folder

1. Firstly follow step 1 and 2 from the ‘How to resize one image’
2. Once you’ve located the images you wish to resize click on them all whilst holding down ‘Ctrl’ (Control) on your keyboard. If you would like to resize all press ‘ctrl + A’ (Click image to enlarge)
   
3. Next you need to Right Click on one of the images you have selected and then select ‘Resize Pictures’ (click to make the image bigger)
   
4. If there is size option you’re happy with select it but clicking on it and then click OK.
   
   Alternatively, if you wish to choose specific dimensions click ‘advanced >>’.  This gives you the opportunity to create custom dimensions, ask the tool to make images smaller but not larger and also ask the tool to resize originals and not make copies.  When happy click ‘OK’
   
5. Your images will then appear in the folder resized (click to make image bigger)
   

We’re impressed with this program!  Watch out for our review on it next week!

People are forever asking us ‘What’s new about Windows 7 Professional?’  Here’s a few of our favourite Windows 7 Professional features!

Windows 7 Professional is easier to use, more reliable, more secure and faster than Windows XP.  Windows XP is nearly a decade old, with limited support for new hardware and software.  On the other hand, Windows 7 Professional has been specifically designed to meet the growing demands of modern technology users with more sophisticated networking, mobility, entertainment, data protection, and compatibility features.  And with Windows XP Mode, you get the compatibility of Windows XP in Windows 7 Professional! Be aware though, to use XP Mode you need the right processor!

So our first post on Windows 7 RC was relativly short, this one comes after a bit of use and testing and we stand by the previous title “Windows 7 RC is BRILLIANT”  we are very impressed.

If you don’t want to read on then you can take these three things away from our findings

• Speed
• Stable
• Compatible

For those with the time to read on we will explain what we are meaning by these three findings.

Speed

We have Windows 7 running on a pretty average system, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB Memory, 160GB Hard Drive. Nothing hugely special by today’s standards but we have found it to run very nicely.

The sort of use it has got is in the list below and at no point have we found it to be slow, non-responsive or sluggish. Obviously it is a new install and this helps but still we are impressed! So it has been used for the following over the last few weeks

• Website design
• Internet / Email
• General Office work
• FTP
• Remote Support

Stable

No crashes or hanging to date! What more can we say…?

Compatability

Software / Hardware we have successfully working on the Windows 7 system is as follows:

• Dell Optiplex 360 – ok, this is actually the hardware it is running on, but still useful to know!
• T-Mobile Mobile Broadband Adaptor – this didn’t work on the Beta so we are very impressed it works now!
• Macromedia Dreamweaver MX
• Microsoft Office 2007
• Hamachi VPN
• Filezilla
• Firefox
• Crossloop
• AVG 8.5 Internet Security
• Windows Home Server Connector Software

We still have got a bit more testing before we would be happy to adopt it as a operating system for a production office machine, but I am very tempted! Roll on Final Release…

We have been testing the Beta version of Windows 7 since that was released and downloaded the RC as soon as we could get our hands on it. In short we still think it is brilliant and are really looking forward to the final release.

Without writing pages and pages on this the best way to sum up Windows 7 is this  -  “Windows 7 is in short a refined version of Windows Vista”

If you have a spare machine then download the Release Candidate for free here: Microsot Windows 7 RC Download. And see what you think.

Have a read of our other Windows 7 posts and we will post back soon with of first impressions of Windows 7 RC !