Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about.
I've always been pretty good about defragmenting my computer, and I think it was a good choice when Microsoft decided to make defragmenting PC's a scheduled job on Vista and Windows 7 by default. For some users the built-in defragmenting is still not good enough, and that's where third-party apps like O&O Defrag come into play.
One of the new features in Windows 7 is Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 7, and Microsoft decided to also offer the most of the same functionality to Windows XP and Vista users. Many of you will probably shrug this off as a pointless update, but it has something that is really useful to me. What is it?
UPDATE: As some commenters have pointed out certain antivirus applications are flagging this application as containing a trojan. My antivirus, NOD32, did not find any virus though. So it's up to you whether you want to proceed.
One of the things that I noticed with my desktop computer is that I'm constantly deleting large files, and after awhile it can consume quite a bit of space. I restart the computer a few times each week, and I decided that upon startup would also be a good time to have the Recycle Bin emptied.
Have you been wanting to get your DVD library onto your PC, but are trying to figure out the best way to do that? A free application called bitRipper might be just the solution you're looking for.
There is a good chance that you've had a program crash on your while you were away from your computer, and it probably caused quite a headache. Maybe you have a web server or FTP server at home, and the application running it crashed when you were at work leaving those files inaccessible.
About 6-weeks before the end of each year some DonationCoder members start planning out what kind of app they'd like to create for the NANY (New Apps for the New Year) challenge. The end result has to be offered for free, and this year 44 coders pledged to release a program.
Everyday when I'm at work I'm dealing with dozens of different servers that I have to connect to using the Windows Remote Desktop.
The other day I had someone who ran into a big problem that many of us hope to never come across. What happened was the user had forgotten the administrator password for their Windows Vista machine, and had no idea how they could log on.
Computers are continuing to get more and more powerful, but a lot of people don't need that extra computing power that the advances in technology bring to the table. At home most people only do things like check their email, chat with friends, and other basic tasks. Dell has recognized this, and the new Dell Inspiron Mini 9 will fill that need.
When you're working with a small screen space it's nice to try and squeeze everything you can out of it. That's especially true when you've got a device like the Eee PC who's 7" screen has an 800x480 maximum resolution. As you can imagine you're Taskbar would fill up after opening just a few applications at a resolution like that.
One of the things that Apple hasn't made easy for iPhone owners is providing a way to create custom ringtones in Windows. If you're a Mac owner you can use GarageBand, but Apple doesn't provide that application on Windows.
One trend that I've noticed as bandwidth and hard drive storage space continues to grow is that sending CD/DVD's over the Internet is becoming a preferred way for distributing media. These files are typically in an ISO or BIN/CUE format, which most people will then burn to a CD/DVD before using them.
It's hard to believe that Microsoft is still working on XP so many years after it originally launched. Their latest work with the operating system involved making a version that worked well with the XO Laptop (One Laptop Per Child project).
One of the things that I've always done on my Windows computers is have them show all of the hidden files. Some people think I'm crazy because this adds a lot more clutter, but it always seemed as though I frequently had to access files there were otherwise hidden.
It has been over a year and a half since the consumer release of Windows Vista, and the Sunbelt Personal Firewall is finally compatible with it. The new version has better network performance, enhanced packet filtering, improved stability, Vista (32-bit) compatibility, and more. Plus, like always, it comes in both free and paid flavors.
In less than ten days Windows XP will no longer be an option when purchasing most computers, despite the fact that over 208,000 people requested that the XP deadline be extended even longer. It's time to move on people, or is it?
Are you using Windows XP but prefer the Firefox 3 theme for Vista, or vice versa? Unfortunately Mozilla decided that Windows users shouldn't be given the option between the two themes, but it was only a matter of time before someone duplicated them for everyone to use. As you can see above I'm running Windows XP, but Firefox 3 has the Vista theme enabled.
Without too much hesitation, Microsoft continues to extend the date that XP will be available for the ultra low-cost PC's. First they extended the date in April for low-cost laptops until 2010 because Vista usually requires too many resources to be run on them, but now the life of Windows XP has been extended for low-cost desktop PCs as well.
