Windows 7 Feature Check

Here is a software to check the capabilities of your System with Windows 7 

From http://www.grc.com/

The name is Securable

The first section shows you what Operating System bit you can run on you computer.

• If you have 64bit appearing you can run both 64bit and 32bit Windows 7
  
• If you have 32bit appearing you can only run 32bit Windows 7

The second section check if the processor support Hardware DEP.

• It checks if your Processor support hardware data flagging function to prevent buffer overrun to prevent malware exploits.

The third section checks if it can support the hardware virtualisation mode in Windos 7

• VT support check if your Processor can support Windows Xp Virtualisation in Windows 7
  

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Result of Changing Thermal Paste

(Temperatures at idle)

This is the new temperature reading after I changed the thermal paste.

Notice the new low reading especially on the GPU.

The reason is because Acer uses a thermal pad to conduct heat away from the GPU which is pretty inefficient.

After I changed the thermal pad and the original thermal paste, which is silicon based, the new temperatures are lower.

Originally the Processor Temperature is 60-70degrees.

Now it is 50-60 degrees at normal load 40-50 at idle.

Original the GPU is nearly 70 degrees now it is nearly 60 degrees.

10 degrees difference that is a lot.

(Temperatures while Gaming)

The temperature for the GPU used to exceed 100 degrees when gaming as some of you have experienced

Now it even barely hits 90 degrees (With elevated platform to allow airflow).

Hence I recommend if you want to game, please replace the factory thermal paste with high quality ones like Arctic Silver 5 or MX-2 if you are able to get one.

Arctic Cooling MX-2 is better as it is non-conductive, no cure time required and easier to apply.

Dissembly Guide here.

Example of the thermal pad use to transfer heat from the GPU to heatsink

In the Acer Aspire 4530 Air enters the laptop through the bottom and exits through the rear so for better ventilation try to prop the laptop bottom on an elevated platform to improve thermal circulation.

Full Dissembly Guide here

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I Hate Windows 7 RC

When Windows 7 RC was released I decided to give it a try to see if it was really living up to the numerous thumbs up it was given.

I downloaded Windows 7 RC 32bit because it was much smaller than the 64bit evalution version.

First there are quite a number of improvements over Windows 6 (aka Vista).

Responsiveness:

The time taken to load folders and preview is a vast improvement over Windows Vista.
It makes Vista seem like a silly snail.
I daresay say the speed either is as good as or even better than Windows Xp!
The entire OS work seemlessly to produce no unnessary delay for User Experience

Appearance:

The appearance is really well designed especially the themes.

I remember there was a PC vs Mac vs Linux parody on Appearance.
Well the Linux among most of you know that it is totally customizable short of tearing out the GUI and replacing it with the terminal which is also possible.
So it was depicted the "Linux" could change "jackets" and image while OS X and Windows couldn't.

In Windows 7 the approach to this was unique.
While you are not able customize the taskbar to the extend of Linux, it was the translucent color scheme and the high quality wallpaper that gives you a totally different feeling when using a different theme, hence I feel it was able to achieve the desired "theme" effect.

Backward Compatibility:

I have to give 5 stars for this all the device work out of box even while using Vista Drivers.
There was no silly messages saying "This driver is not for Windows 7 ..." etc.
Vista or Windows 7 drivers, both works.
It is due to Microsoft deciding not to change the driver framework further to make installation living hell for us users.
Hence you can expect almost all Vista Compatible Device to be Windows 7 compatible as well.

Usability:

Windows 7 is very fast and responsive as I mentioned above.
It was so speedy even though tweaks still exist, I find it redundant to tweak the System.
It is able to keep up with user behaviour any better you have to tweak the user to be faster instead.

File operations (copy,paste,cut) are fast. They have finally return to the Xp speed era.
No matter how fast I tweaked Vista, file operations performance was something that never changed until the advent of Windows 7.

Also Web Browser Windows are integrated into the taskbar to prevent cluttering. This might need some getting use to as you might be surprise when you don't see the taskbar box of the Web Browser minimised.

UAC no longer pop up as frequently. If you did not install any programs you wonder if UAC even existed in Windows 7.

Some basic programs that underwent a makeover:

• Paint now feels and look more professional.
• Windows Media Player looks fundamentally similar but has some visible upgrades.
• The Control Panel UI has under went some interface changes you might get lost occasionally but you will be able to find your way eventually.

Improvements to be made:

• IE 8 still lack a spell check
• Integrated Zip Utility leaves much to be desired

All in all it is obvious Windows 7 seems like a major improvement over Vista AND Xp.
Whoever says Windows 7 sucks or something either haven't tried it before or is a Mac zealot.
You can see effort put into the UI, design and usability of the OS.


Now you may start wondering why is the title of this blog entry critical of Windows 7 when I found Windows 7 to be so great.

It is because it is still in evaluation period.
However great it is I still have to wait for the release to be able to use it as a proper OS.
It is like tying a carrot to a stick and hanging it over your head.
You can smell it, see it but can't eat it.
Until then I am stuck with a lousier Vista OS for my production system.


Windows 7 has become one reason you don't need a expensive Macbook.
Any guesses what the next Mac Ad might be ?

Aspire 4530 WEI

The new paint toolbar

Microsoft attempts to address the 4GB addresses issues (pardon the pun)

Recently I tried the Xp emulator mode which works only if your system support hardware virtualisation.

AMD Processor users rejoice. All recent AMD Processor supports HyperVisor except the Sempron Series.

While Intel tried to be funny. They enabled Hypervisor only on certain chips as "high end" capability.

While trying out Xp mode in Windows 7 it hung when I tried to do intensive stuff.

Anyway it is still beta and I should have done it on Windows 7 64bit instead.

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How to upgrade Vista 32bit to 64bit using your original license key

Firstly I don't support piracy, please do this only if you have the original Vista License Sticker (Above) on your System.

The reason I am doing this post is because OEM Vendors usually install Vista 32bit on Retail Systems, however you can get more performance on your system if you used a 64bit OS instead, it is unfair to users to bear the system limitations.

What this guide is good for?

• You want a bloatware free Vista Install at the same time you don't want to purchase another Vista License.
• You want to upgrade your original 32bit Vista to 64bit Vista
• You lost the original recovery partition and do not have the recovery cd and yet you don't want to buy the recovery cd or a new Vista License.

NOTE: This will only work for Laptops or OEM Desktops preloaded with OEM Vista as these Systems has a special SLIC 2.0 BIOS which enables OEM Activation.

Do not message me HERE on how to make this work on Systems that do not have OEM Vista preloaded with it.

Lets take for example the Acer Aspire 4530 Laptop (Tested).

On a Vista Client 32bit OS it can only utilise up to 2.8GB of RAM regardless of the Total RAM available.

(Maximium usable RAM is 3GB in all 32bit Vista Editions)

However on a Vista Client 64bit OS it can support up to 3.8GB of RAM

(Assuming you have the maximum 4GB installed)

The performance difference is significant 1.0GB difference.(the missing 0.2 is due to 9100MG Integrated Graphics).

Backup All Your Important Data Before Proceding !

1. Firstly google and prepare all the 64bit Vista Drivers you need.
   
2. Next take any retail copy of Vista (or download an uncracked version from Bittorrent. There is no need to get a retail CD-Key as we will be using OEM CD-Key) and install the type you own.
   

Example if you have a Vista Home Premium License Sticker, install the Vista Home Premium Version.

• Uncheck Automatically Activate When Online, and Do Not type in any Product Key.
  

After installing and setting up the OS, download the Acer OEM Certificate and put it inside :

C:\Windows\system32\OEM

If you don't have the folder, create it.

Then open up a Command Windows with Vista Administrative Permission and Enter the Commands below.

slmgr.vbs -ilc C:\Windows\System32\OEM\Acer.xrm-ms

Next, choose one of the Acer OEM Keys shown below the version you have installed in your system:

Note the OEM Keys are NOT UNIQUE meaning EVERY Acer Laptop which has Vista Preloaded is using one of the following CD-Keys, depending on the version of Vista.

Then Activate

Then install the 64bit drivers.

You are done.

Note: The Activation is done offline, you do not need any internet connection to do this.

If you have other Vendor laptops, PM me for their respective OEM Certs and CD-Key if you need it.

Use this keyfinder to check your current OEM License Key and match it to the appropriate OEM Certificate

Gateway & Emachines Cerfitifcate Download

HP & Compaq Certificate Download

Toshiba Certificate Download (There are 4 Certs try the correct one)

ASUS Certificate Download

Sony Certificate Download

Fujitsu Certificate Download

The Windows 7 Clean Install Instruction is here

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Windows 7 Wallpapers (Include Latest RC)

Here is the Updated Windows 7 wallpaper Collection

The latest release it up to RC (Release Candidate)

I have place the Original Windows 7 Wallpapers + RC Wallpapers + Windows 7 Beta Wallpapers into one zip file.

I have also rename & tag some of them to avoid file clashing with the original Vista Wallpaper.

After you download you can safely extract them to
C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper
They will not overwrite your original Vista Wallpapers.

Download them here

If you are using Windows Xp and would like to download Vista Wallpapers,click here

You can simply extract them to your Wallpaper Folder they will not overwrite your original Wallpapers or the Windows Vista Wallpapers as well.
Enjoy

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Windows Vista Wallpapers

For Windows Xp/Windows 7 users who wish to have the Vista Wallpapers Collection, I have uploaded them here 

If you are interested in Windows 7 Wallpaper, click here

If you are using Windows 7 please rename the files before extracting to your Windows 7 Wallpaper Collections.

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Windows Vista SP2

Windows Vista Service Pack is out (not officially).
Your can download it now using a bittorrent client

Windows Vista SP2

(english, japanese, spanish, german and french)

BUILD: 6002.18005.090410-1830
FILE: Windows6.0-KB948465-X64.exe
SIZE: 605,410,472 bytes
CRC32: 1737E14D
MD5: A3BCB1FFDB366397FA5FAB0898EB098D
SHA-1: BE8D74ADC029FA7350FC1F0D32BEF853C0519A92
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
BUILD: 6002.18005.090410-1830
FILE: Windows6.0-KB948465-X86.exe
SIZE: 365,230,920 bytes
CRC32: 3368C777
MD5: C9394FD32DB15619328AF4FF0315750A
SHA-1: 106C0484D7449CC4B70353C21D0C0D63E4BA66C3

Torrent:
X86 here
X64 here

Upon completion of Update and Reboot
Click
Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> Command Prompt
Then Right Click "Run as Admin"
Then enter:

Compcln.exe

This will clean up the updates to save disk space if you are certain you are not going to uninstall any updates

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