Microsoft Warns XP Users Against Installing Update Hacks

We all know that Microsoft has stopped supporting Windows XP, and they are no longer releasing any security patches for this completely outdated operating system. However, some XP users have found ingenious ways of installing the latest Microsoft security updates in their unsupported OS.

Installing Windows Embedded OS and Windows Server 2003 updates in XP

Some clever XP users have figured out a way to install a hack in the XP OS, and make some changes in the Windows XP OS registry database. And, this, it seems, will be enough to convince the Windows Updater application that you are using Windows Embedded OS, or Windows Server 2003. You can then easily install the latest security updates available for these operating systems, without any compatibility issues.

This hack involves using the security updates for the Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 version. This is an embedded OS designed for point-of-sale equipments and other peripheral devices used in the industry. Now clearly, your Windows XP OS is not the same as Windows Embedded OS. So, installing the security updates intended for the Embedded OS in Windows XP might not be a good idea.

The Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 version will receive tech support for five more years, until 2019. But, Microsoft has already realised what is going on, and issued warnings to the XP users not to meddle with the OS registry, and install the security updates not intended for the XP OS.

According to Microsoft, installing such security updates clearly not designed for the XP OS might result in OS problems. XP users are instead urged to upgrade to any of the latest Windows operating systems that still receives tech support.

Upgrade to Windows 7 or Windows 8?

There is no need to make any Windows 7 vs Windows 8 comparisons before you upgrade from Windows XP. Windows 8 is clearly superior to the Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft has fixed most of the Windows 8 problems in their latest Windows 8.1 OS update.

If you make a Windows 7 vs Windows 8 comparison, you will realise that Windows 8 has better security features, more cloud support functions, more cool apps, and so on. Plus, the hardware requirements for both these operating systems are pretty much the same.

So, instead of installing these hack updates in your old XP OS, upgrade to the latest Windows 8 OS.

Some Of The Interesting Windows 8 Features

Although Windows 8 was severely panned by most users, the operating system has finally proved that it is here to stay. As per the latest market sources, the Windows 8 usage has increased considerably in the last couple of months. This basically owes to the fact that several XP users have finally relented and started migrating to the latest OS.

Since, Windows 8 will be seen in most of the PC’s in the coming future, let us check some of the interesting features of this operating system:

ARM tablet support

• Microsoft has enabled the support for ARM tablets in Windows 8. This is a marketing strategy to provide stiff competition to others in the field of smartphones and tablets.

Windows to go feature

• Now, you can install Windows 8 operating system in your computer even by using a USB device called the Live USB. In addition to this, you can also setup various computer programs configurations and information using this feature known as Windows to go.

Apps from Windows Store

• Windows Store is one of the best Windows 8 features because you can download a plethora of interesting apps from here.
• Quite similar to Google’s Play Store, the Windows 8 users can install various apps from the Windows Store. The developers can also post their applications for the Windows 8 supported devices.

User Interface

• The users-interface of Windows 8 is a properly organized one developed in Metro Style. The key feature of this interface is that only the most important information will be revealed to the user.
• The interface is developed in such a way that the users will find it easy to operate on the touchscreen.

Enhanced security

• Microsoft has included an improved edition of Ms Windows Defensive player as a part of the enhanced security settings in Windows 8. This program serves as a complete virus protection device for Windows and protects your system from malwares such as malware, viruses, Trojan viruses and root-kits.
• In addition to this, this application ensures real-time protection against protection risks in the computer.

Faster Startup Time

• Microsoft has ensured faster startup in Windows 8. The inclusion of Protozoon computer file program makes it possible for the users to use the PC immediately.
• This means that booting and rebooting the system will be finished at superb speeds.

Looking at these useful Windows 8 features, one can see that the operating system will soon be taken to actively, before long. Microsoft is also planning to launch more updates for this OS, which will ensure a more advanced computing experience for the users.

How To Get Rid Of Wireless Issues In Vista

Windows Vista was released after the release of the Windows XP operating system, but it did not become much popular among its users. Wireless issues were much frequent among all the Vista problems. The Windows Vista operating system will save the needed account information to make a login to the BeaverNet. A change in network configuration or password will make it very necessary to update this data in the Windows Vista operating system. The Windows Vista operating system does not update the account information automatically. The easiest and simplest way to force the Windows Vista operating system to update the information is to delete the account configuration and then make a new one.

The steps to get rid of the wireless connectivity issues in the Windows Vista operating system are discussed below in this article. You can follow these steps carefully so that you will not encounter any such Vista problems.

Instructions

• Turn on the Windows Vista computer and after the computer loads, go to the Network and Sharing Center. There are more than one ways to do this. One of the ways is to launch Control Panel, by clicking on the Start menu. 
• Select Network and Internet from the Control Panel menu. 
• From the Network and Internet panel, select Network and Sharing Center. 
• In the left column of Network and Sharing Center, under the heading Tasks, there is an item named Manage wireless networks. Select this item by clicking on it. 
• In the Manage wireless networks panel, you will be able to see an entry that is meant for Caltech BeaverNet. You may right click on this entry and then choose Remove network. Doing this will make the Caltech BeaverNet entry to disappear. After doing these steps, you can close the window. 
• Now you can move back to the Network and Sharing Center and then click on the Connect to a network item that is located in the Tasks column and then make a new BeaverNet connection. 

These are the simple steps to get rid of the wireless connectivity issues in the Windows Vista operating system. If you have any doubts or confusions in any of the steps that are discussed above, you can contact the Windows support number for further assistance. The support technician will be able to help you finish the steps successfully without encountering any errors.

The Xbox One OS Gets An Update

It has only been a few months since the official release of the Xbox One gaming console. But, Microsoft has already been working on making many improvements to it. According to the Microsoft help website, Xbox users will soon receive an OS update for their console which will improve its overall performance and add a few new features.

What can you expect from the Xbox One OS update?

Xbox One is already a great success. In the first few months itself, Microsoft sold more than three million consoles, and this figure will soon cross the 4-million mark. However, as with any new Microsoft operating system or product, there have been a few user complaints as well. And, some of them were about the Xbox One operating system.

There were a few reported glitches in DVR recording. Some Xbox One users had problems with the Party Chat option. According to the Microsoft help website, with this Xbox One OS update, Microsoft has solved these issues. Also, they have introduced better chat volume control options for Kinect system in Xbox One.

As part of the update, the Xbox One OS will also get a sound mixer tool for snapped apps. Also, the update will improve the search engine functions in the gaming console. Overall, this new OS update will improve the performance of your Xbox One gaming console.

Sony’s PlayStation 4 taking the lead

Perhaps, the release of this new OS update within just a few months after the release of the new gaming console, has something to do with the fierce completion between Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4. Last time, Xbox 360 sold more units than PlayStation 3, making Microsoft the leader in the gaming console market.

So, this time around, Sony came up with an aggressive pricing strategy. Sony’s PlayStation 4 is 100 dollars cheaper than Microsoft’s Xbox One. Unlike Microsoft, Sony has decided to unbundle their motion sensing device from the main gaming console. This will be sold as a separate accessory. This allowed them to slash the console price down by 100 dollars, outcompeting the Xbox One console in the market.

Microsoft is marketing the Xbox One console as the entertainment hub for your home and their Kinect motion sensing system is part of this package. Sony, on the other hand, are marketing their product only as a gaming console, with the PlayStation Camera motion-sensing device as an optional accessory.

Let’s see if Sony can maintain their lead in the next few months.

How To Retrieve Outlook Contacts

One of the main problems that an Outlook user has to face is the loss of emails and contacts from the program when the system crashes. However, you can get most of the data back by retrieving the data from the PST files. Here we discuss how to retrieve contacts from PST files.

Instructions

• Open the Outlook email manager program by double clicking on its icon found in the desktop and then click on the File menu located at the top left corner of the application window. 
• From the drop down menu that appears on the screen, click on the Open & Export tab. Now a new context menu will appear on the screen from the options displayed on the screen, select the option labeled as Open Outlook Data File. 
• The program will now display a file window for opening the Outlook data file, enter the following path C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook in the address bar of the file window. Replace the field named username with the user name you use to sign-in to the computer. 
• If you are going to use the backup file to retrieve Outlook email contacts, select the file named as backup.pst from the window that opens on the screen. However if you are not planning to use the backup file, select the PST file with the name of your Outlook account. For example, if you have named your outlook profile as user, then select the PST file named user.pst. 
• After selecting the PST file, click on the button named as Open found in the window for opening the PST file. The Outlook email manager will now create a new folder with name My Outlook Data File or Outlook Data File. The folder will contain all your data including your contacts, emails and other details that you have stored in the Outlook email manager program’s PST file. 
• For viewing the retrieved contacts in the program, click on the tab labeled as People. You will be able to see the contacts that you have retrieved from the PST file in a separate folder in the contacts list. If you wish to save them too to your default contacts list, you can accomplish it by copying all the contacts and then pasting them in the default folder. 

If you follow the simple instructions given above, you will be able to retrieve Outlook email contacts stored in the PST files. However, if you are unable to retrieve the contacts, feel free to contact the Outlook support team for further support.

Windows 7 Boot Camp Compatibility Absent In New Mac Pro

Apple is a company well known for the production of Mac computers, which is mainly employed in many business firms. And their main competitor is Microsoft, which is known for its Windows operating systems. A new software called Boot Camp was included in the Apple’s OS X, which helps Mac users to use Microsoft Windows OS on an Intel-based Mac PC. There are certain things that you need to be aware of, if you are one among the many users who are planning to buy a new Mac and use Windows 7 Boot Camp. Depending upon the version of the Boot camp software that you are using, Microsoft has constantly supported different versions of the Windows on Boot Camp.

Windows 7 Boot Camp helped Mac users to use Windows 7 operating system on their Intel based Mac computers. There is a rumor across the tech world that the tech giant has made a move to remove the Windows Boot Camp support on the newly available Mac Pro Pc’s. As of today, only the Windows 8 and higher OS are compatible with the machine, and all Mac users have found this decision very strange and hard to believe considering the fact that if needed, a Mac PC would be able to run previous versions of the Windows OS. Moreover, older Windows versions are also supported in the older versions of Boot camp on other Mac PCs.

Take for Windows 7 as an example; higher versions of the Windows 7 OS are still compatible with Boot Camp 5.x, whereas its previous Boot Camp 4.x supports both Windows 7 and Windows XP. Therefore, Microsoft’s decision to drop support for all other versions of Windows OS apart from Windows 8, will have an adverse affect on Mac. All Mac computers will face the same problems and limitations. This becomes even worse, when you need to upgrade, even if you own Windows 7 and need Boot Camp.

Older versions of Windows are still being supported by the older versions of the Boot Camp and the Microsoft’s decision to support only Windows 8 is a clear indication that from now on, it is necessary to have Windows 8 on new Mac computers.

For more news and information regarding this, contact Windows 7 help team. Windows 7 help team will be able to help you in clearing all the doubts related to Windows 7 Boot Camp.

Sort Your Mails Faster In Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is an email client application, successor to the Outlook Express application. Outlook is equipped with tools that let your perform all necessary email actions like sending and receiving emails among other and all your emails are stored in the PST files, a standard extensions employed by outlook to store data.

The MS Outlook program is part of the MS Office suite of desktop applications, which contains many other desktop applications. One of the advantages of using MS Outlook is that you get loads of personal manager tools and utilities. Tools like calendar, notes, journals and contact manager help users manage their day better. You never miss out on deadlines, important meetings and appointments with MS Outlook.

Another benefit of using MS Outlook is that you can add other email accounts to MS outlook. Once setup you get access to all your emails right from the Outlook window saving time. Outlook users can sort their mails even better by clicking one of the column tiles at the top of the window. It is in fact one of the most common and preferred way to sort through loads of emails. However this is just basic sorting, whereas Outlook has tools that support advanced sorting.

This can be easily achieved by pressing down on the Shift key and at least two title columns. You can sort your emails in a variety of ways: based on sender and date, title and date, or sender and subject. To activate either of these options you must ensure to keep holding down the Shift key to get your desired effects.

Outlook will also be displaying the up and down sorting icons in the columns that have been selected by the users so that to can understand how the emails are sorted out in a better fashion. The first selected column will be the primary order while the second column obviously the second order. Plus users can add more columns as well to sort through their mail.

Let’s say that you get a lot of email messages from one sender, maybe your boss or your partner. Sorting the mails according to the sender will display the recent emails that the sender has sent right on top of the column. You could choose to sort these emails on their sizes simply by pressing Shift key then click on the From and Size column so that the largest emails get stacked on top and rest follow in a decreasing order. In addition, you could implement the same sorting on RSS feeds as well.

For any more Outlook help tips and other ways to improve your Outlook experience post your queries in the outlook support page or consult the outlook help desk.