Searching your files folders and on contents is more important to be easy, friendly and most importantly, faster. Windows 8 is not just about the design and new start menu. For professional scenarios, every keystroke matters. One new aspect of the Windows 8 platform is the ability for Metro style apps to deliver a customized search "contract."

As you install more and more apps, search tool become increasingly important. Searching from the Start menu has been established as the quickest way to find and launch apps, particularly for keyboard users.

Windows 8 has just carried forward the efficiency and dexterity of the Windows 7 Start menu search into the new Start screen. Before we go into this post, lets not forget that most of the (Windows 7) users are using the Start menu to search to launch programs rather than using it for searching for content.

The new Start search experience makes it easier than ever to search for content in your PC or in apps from anywhere in the system. It’s been designed to work seamlessly and efficiently across the range of devices that Windows will run on, and across different input mechanisms such as the mouse, keyboard, and touch.

Searching from Start in Windows 8:

Searching via the Start menu has continued to evolve with each release. The Windows 8 Start search experience builds on top of search features available in Windows 7 and provides a unique view for each of the three system groups - Apps, Settings and Files. These search result views are a natural progression from the Windows 7 groups and are easily accessible from anywhere in the operating system via the Search charm or keyboard shortcuts. Separating the search results into views means we can tailor the experience for each data type.

For example, the File search view provides you with filters and search suggestions while typing to quickly complete your query.

In Windows 8, we expect people will be acquiring and installing more apps than ever before. If Windows 8 continue to use Windows 7 Start menu search interface to search for a Control Panel item, you would always see app or program results before Control Panel results, displacing many Control Panel items from being the first match.

Windows 8, on the other hand, follows an app-first model, where each app developer understands their data and users best, and knows the best way to present the information to them.

Using the same model for search, in Windows 8, each view is tailored for the type of content you’re searching for, and shows all the results, instead of limiting them due to screen real-estate.

One change is that, file search results no longer include email messages and contacts. Just because the email application itself has a built in search, which will take care of mail and contact search.

With the app-first approach in Windows 8, Metro style email apps will use the search contract to provide a rich set of filtered search results in a view customized for email. In comparison, email clients and other apps in Windows 7 have no control over how their search results are presented.

Windows 8 paid special attention to ensuring the number of keystrokes required to find and launch apps, settings, or files is at parity with or better than in Windows 7.

Thus, Windows 8 introduce a set of keyboard shortcuts to help users quickly and efficiently get to settings search results (WIN key + W) or file search results (WIN key + F), thus reducing the total number of keystrokes needed to find and launch settings or files.

Searching apps

App search results show the full set of apps (both their “friendly” names and executable names) for which the search term matches the name. As the number of installed apps increases, it becomes difficult to browse through a large list to find an infrequently used app. Search helps quickly filter and reduce a large list of apps down in just a few key strokes. We wanted to make sure we preserved the same keyboard usage patterns as Windows 7. You don’t have to first click on the Search charm to begin searching – simply start typing in the Start screen and you’ll see your list of apps filter down to the one you are looking for.

Figure: Full-screen app search results

Most Frequently Used (MFU)-Based Ranking:

Also note that the Most Frequently Used (MFU)-based ranking of app search results from Windows 7 is preserved in Windows 8. For example, if you type “paint” in the developer preview you get 2 apps back as search results – PaintPlay and Paint. If you predominantly just use Paint, it will be ranked higher than PaintPlay as you use it more often. So, launching Paint (or other apps you frequently use) becomes more efficient the more you use app search.

Windows 8 Start Menus Search Also Works As Run Function:

The Windows 7 Start menu also included “Run” functionality for commanding and navigating Windows. This has been carried over to Windows 8 as well—tasks like running scripts and .exes in the user’s PATH are still possible and supported in App search. Search continues to support launching folders in Windows Explorer by typing in full paths.

For example, typing “C:\” in Start search results in the set of folders in the C: drive appearing below the search box. Pressing the Down Arrow key moves selection through the list and autocompletes the folder name in the search box, allowing users to continue typing to further refine the path. You can do the same with UNC (\\foo\example) paths as well. And of course WIN key + R will switch to the desktop and bring up the classic Run dialog, just as you would expect.

Figure: Typing a path into Start search

Searching settings

The settings search experience brings together all settings and Control Panel items across the system in one view. Settings search results are matched not only to the name of the Control Panel applet or task, but also to the various keywords that may describe it.

There were also some frustration that shutdown is not available as a search result, and That will be addressed along with improvements to the Start user interface for shutdown as a reminder, you can also just use the power button or close the lid.

Figure: Full-screen settings search results

Searching files On Windows 8:

The number of files on PCs keeps increasing over time as users continue to acquire and create more documents, music, photos, and videos. Windows 8’s goal, while redesigning the file search experience, was to make it seamless and complete so you can achieve your task of quickly finding a file without having to transition to Windows Explorer.

In File search, you’ll also see search suggestions as you type to help you quickly and efficiently complete the search. The indexer provides these search suggestions based on the content and properties of files it knows about. Search suggestions are a very powerful concept made popular and used extensively on the web—they help you to pinpoint relevant search terms with just a few keystrokes.

In Windows 8 search suggestions have been build into the file search experience and also made this feature available in the platform for all Metro style apps to use.

This feature also accounts for typos or spelling errors, and suggests the auto-corrected search term as you type. Using the arrow keys to choose suggestions autocompletes the term in the box. This makes it easy to add more terms to the query and quickly narrow down the set of results to find the one you want.

You can also still search using AQS (Advanced Query Syntax) from Windows 7. AQS allows for greater precision and control when constructing the query to get targeted results. Here are some sample searches and their advanced query syntax:

Designed for touch, too:

We discussed the details of designing search for dexterity while using the keyboard, but this design works equally well for touch. To begin searching in Start, simply swipe the edge and tap on the Search charm. This opens the full list of installed apps. You can use the touch keyboard to search for a program to launch, but you can also use semantic zoom to zoom out, and then tap on the section that contains your app. Start search is lightweight, fast, fluid, and quickly gets out of the way as you pan through your list of apps, settings, or files.

The Search pane makes it easy to continue searching for the same term in other system views or Metro style apps with just one tap. Touch-friendly search suggestions minimize typing on a touch screen, and the search contract provides a framework for search suggestions that developers can use for their own Metro style apps as well. In addition, we designed touch-friendly filters with result counts in the file search view to help users quickly refine the search results set.

Start search brings apps, settings, and files together with other Metro style apps that implement the Search contract, creating a unified and consistent search experience.

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

Retail versions of Windows 7 must be activated within 30 days. Otherwise, the system slips into an annoying state in which it notifies you, every 60 minutes, that the system must be activated. Still, the 30-day grace period is useful, especially if you’re just testing some things and want to ensure that your new install is working properly before you lock things down and tie your one product key to this particular PC.

That said, sometimes 30 days isn’t enough, and if you want to extend this grace period, we’ve got some good news: thanks to a barely documented feature aimed at Microsoft’s corporate customers, it’s actually possible to extend the activation grace period up to a total of 150 days. You just have to be a bit vigilant.

The key to extending the grace period is a command-line program in Windows 7 called Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR), which is actually a VBScript script named slmgr.vbs. Which can be found in c:\windows\system32 by default.

Using this script with the –rearm parameter, you can reset (or, in Software Licensing Manager lingo, “re-arm”) Windows 7’s 0-day activation grace period. This effectively resets the clock on the activation grace period back to a full 30 days whenever you run it.

Unfortunately, you can run this script successfully only four times, so it’s theoretically possible to re-arm the product activation grace period to a total of 150 days (30 days of initial grace period plus four additional 30-day grace periods). That said, even the most careful of users will likely want to re-arm the grace period with a few days remaining each time, but you’re still looking at over 100 days of non-activated Windows 7 usage.

You can view your current grace period in the System window. To do so, open the Start menu, right-click the Computer icon, and choose Properties. The bottom section of this window, Windows activation, displays how many days you have until the grace period ends, and provides a link to activate Windows immediately, as shown in Figure below.

Figure : Time to activate…or re-arm the grace period.

Here’s how to re-arm the Windows 7 product-activation grace period:

1. Open the Start menu, select Search, and type cmd.

2. Right-click the cmd shortcut that appears and choose Run as Administrator from the pop-up menu that appears. Windows 7’s command-line window appears.

3. Type the following text in the command-line window and press Enter when complete:

slmgr.vbs -rearm

When the command is run successfully, the Windows Script Host window shown in Figure below appears, noting “Command completed successfully. Please restart the system for the changes to take effect.”

Figure: Happiness is a full 30-day grace period.

4. Click OK to close the Windows Script Host window and then restart the PC. When you reboot, reload the System window.

The grace period has been reset to 30 more days.

Software Licensing Manager script

The Software Licensing Manager script wasn’t designed solely to extend the Windows 7 grace period. If you run slmgr.vbs from a Windows 7 command-line window without any parameters, you’ll eventually be presented with the dialog shown in the first screen shot below and followed by three other dialog boxes, displaying the many possible options (Note: Figure below shows all the four dialog you see in succession).

Figure: (Two out of Four image that u will see on typing slmgr)The Software Licensing Manager script performs a number of useful product activation–related services.

Figure: (The other two images that u will see on typing slmgr)The Software Licensing Manager script performs a number of useful product activation–related services.

The most interesting of these include the following:

• -ipk: Enables you to change the Windows product key
• -dlv: Displays a detailed list of license information about your PC, including the Windows 7 product version and type (e.g., retail)
• -ato: Activates Windows 7
• -dti: Activates Windows 7 offline, without an Internet connection

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

The System Menu button is a tiny icon in the upper-left corner of each window. The icon shows which program you are running. When you click the icon, you see the System  menu:

You can also display the System menu by pressing alt-spacebar or by right-clicking the title bar of the window.

The system menu (also called as the window menu or control menu)  is a popup menu in Microsoft Windows, accessible by left-clicking on the upper-left icon of most windows, or by pressing the Alt and Space keys. This menu provides the user with the ability to perform some common tasks on the window, some in atypical ways.

For example, normally a user would move a window by dragging the title bar of the window - but with the option in the system menu the user gets a different cursor and procedure to move the window with.

The commands on the System menu do the following:

• Restore Resizes the window to its previous size, the same as the Restore button.
• Move Enables you to move the window around on your screen by using the cursor (arrow) keys. This command does the same thing as dragging the window’s title bar with the mouse. Press ENTER to finish moving the window.
• Size Enables you to change the size of the window by using the cursor keys. This command does the same thing as dragging the window borders with the mouse.
• Minimize Minimizes the window, shrinking it to a small icon, the same as the Minimize button.
• Maximize Maximizes the window to cover the whole screen, the same as the Maximize button.
• Close Closes the window, the same as the Close button.

Some applications also add their own commands to the System menu. Some applications customize the system menu, typically through the GetSystemMenu WinAPI function. Cmd.exe is an example of this and offers the user an ability to change its preferences through its system menu (other a222pplications typically offer the user to change their preferences through the normal menu below their window's title bar).

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

Nokia C2-05 and Nokia X2-05 are the latest two models with just around $5 difference have a lot to be discussed. And in fact, these models are enhanced from their previous versions.

Even though the code and naming came from the previous models, these models have the most interesting and attractive features including OVI browser, (Which is in beta, by the time I am writing this post) which uses Nokia’s own compression technology is expected to serve web pages more quickly than its previous editions of browsers.

And well, Nokia challenges that browser will deliver the web content at a comfortable cost and band width.

With this announcement of Nokia OVI browser, opera mini is facing a direct competition in the market with too huge share in mid end devices. Both of the hand sets are having standard features including social networking apps, having FM player which also supports recording, VGA camera and more.

As said before, both these handsets comes with preloaded twitter and Facebook apps supported by Nokia browser and Nokia store, and other social networking apps can also be added by the users.

And lets see the details of both C2-05 and X2-05.

Here is the details:

Nokia C2-05

The Nokia c2-05 comes with a slide, it is beautifully designed and it fits easily into the pocket and Nokia claims that this phone is made for the style conscious social people.

Has two inch LCD display with resolution (320×240 pixels)

Full screen viewfinder with VGA camera having digital zoom

Micro USB and Bluetooth features

Stereo headset in the box

Battery time up to 4  hours talk time and 20 days standby

Nokia c2-05 have a wide range of colors including pink, peacock blue and dynamic grey. From the Nokia store we can also download themes, wallpapers and ringtones

The Nokia c2-05 cost approximately $69 USD, around 50 euros. Which is little expensive than Nokia X2-05.

Nokia X2-05

Nokia X2-05 which costs around $64 USD or 46 Euros, is in the form of candy bar and it more emphasis on media and music.

As same as the Nokia c2-05 it comes with the new Nokia store and Nokia browser.

The interesting feature is that media player is central focused as the other X series phones, it can also play the mp3 and mp4 files with the stereo headset and through loudspeaker also.

Speaker is having a good sound quality which can be heard loud and clear in a decent size room.

Following are some other specs:

VGA camera on the back of the phone

2.2 inch LCD QVGA offers 320 x 240 resolutions.

Heavy battery with four hours talk time and 25 days standby

Enabled with USB and Bluetooth

Well, that’s it. Which one do you prefer? share your thoughts as comments.

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

By default Windows 8 comes with enabled Windows firewall which will not respond to ping requests from other networked devices. Even though you can access network shares from your Win 8 computer, but still the host computer will not respond to ping request Windows 8 will only Return ‘Request Timed Out’ message as you can see in the below screen shot.

Here is the simple solution to enable ping reply or response in Windows 8 by modifying ICMP Echo rule without completely disabling the Windows firewall.

If you turn off firewall in Windows 8, yes it will respond to ping requests, but that is not the professional way.

Warning! Disabling the firewall completely for ping request will put the computer in high network threat.

Screenshot explaining what will happen if you ping a Windows 8 Machine that is connected to a network. Even when it is connected, ping result will fail as either Request Times Out Or Destination host unreachable.

How to Enable Only ICMP Echo Request which responds to ping command from other networked devices, follow the below steps.

1) Go to Control panel.

2) Click on More Settings option which is listed at last (This will bring the old style Control panel in Windows 8).

3) Click on Windows Firewall icon. Here you can completely turn off the firewall, so ping reply will work but its not recommended and we are not going to do it.

Select Advanced settings to open more and advanced Windows firewall settings.

4) There is a pre made ICMP Echo rule available in Inbound Rules, we just need to enable that rule.

You must consider two facts while enabling the rule,

a) Network protocol type ( Is it IPv4 or IPv6)

b) Network location type ( Is it Private or Public or Domain network)

Find out the correct rule matching for your scenario and enable it by right clicking and select Enable Rule.

That’s it, we have just enabled the ping response or reply in Windows 8 without disabling the Windows firewall.  Later disabling (Right Click and select Disable Rule) the same rule will prevent the Windows 8 computer to respond ping commands.

Warning! As we have already seen, You can make Windows 8 to respond to ping requests by disabling Firewall completely. However, that is not the professional way. As, disabling the firewall completely for ping request will put the computer in high network threat. Follow the above step-by-step instruction to Enable Windows 8 Respond To Ping Request by configuring Windows 8 Firewall.

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

You know your smartphone is doing well when 4 million people buy it in the first weekend and it temporarily sells out on all carrier partners.

The overwhelming demand for the iPhone 4S is understandable, given the much-talked-about Siri voice-controlled assistant, as well as the device's faster dual-core processor and fantastic 8-megapixel camera. But today's top Android phones—such as the Samsung Galaxy S II—offer plenty of features you won't find on Apple's blockbuster sequel. How to find the key difference between iPhone and other Android Phones?

Obviously, it depends on your need… Lets see one by one…

Interface

I would never call the row-of-icons interface on the iPhone 4S fresh, but its ease of use means a lot, especially to first-time smartphone owners. And iOS 5 with the addition of weather and stock info catches up to Android with its Notifications area, which is cleanly designed and dynamic.

However, some Android phones let you do more from the notification area.

On HTC Sense, for example, you can switch between apps and on the Samsung Galaxy S II you can toggle the wireless radios on and off from this menu as well as tweak several settings. The other edge Android has in the interface department is widgets, which let you access all sorts of info at a glance.

Indeed, Google's OS is so customizable that the user experience can vary drastically from one phone to the next.

At this point of time, the iPhone 4S has the advantage. While Android is more flexible, it can also be more confusing. Simplicity wins this round.

Multitasking

Just as with the iPhone 4, it's easy to switch between apps on the iPhone 4S. You just double-press the home button and swipe to either side. To shut down apps, you press and hold the screen and then tap the X next to an app's icon. Because most apps are suspended when they're not open, you don't really need to worry about them zapping battery life.

Today on Android, you must long-press the home button, but you might only see a subset of all of your running apps—and you can't close programs from this view. Android Ice Cream Sandwich will offer a better user experience, with a Recent Apps button that displays live thumbnails of your running apps. And you'll be able to dismiss apps with a swipe.

Even here, the iPhone 4S has the upper edge. But it looks like Android 4.0 will put Google's phones ahead.

Screen Size and Quality

One of the chief complaints people have about the screen in the iPhone 4S is that it's the same size as the original iPhone's: 3.5 inches. But what many don't realize is that this LCD's resolution is higher than the vast majority of Android phones. The display is not only crisper but brighter than most of the Android competition.

On the other hand, bigger screens are just easier on the eyes, and they don't force you to zoom in as much to read text. And although they're not as bright, the Super AMOLED displays on phones such as the Galaxy S II and the Droid RAZR offer better contrast and more vibrant colors, making them great for watching movies. The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Nexus will up the ante on with the first HD display (1280 x 720 pixels).

What we want to say at this point is, the iPhone 4S has the superior display right now in terms of detail and brightness, but some shoppers just prefer a larger screen.

Keyboard/Typing

Amazingly, Apple's multitouch keyboard remains second to none, despite the fact that in most cases you're typing on a smaller display. Both in portrait mode and landscape mode, I can type quickly and accurately. I'll certainly make more errors than when using a physical keyboard, but overall the iPhone 4S keyboard just works.

With Android phones, keyboards vary quite a bit from one phone maker to the next. Generally speaking, I've found HTC's keyboards to be the best, with Android's stock keyboard on the Samsung Galaxy S 4G being a close second. But Android has a few advantages. One is that you can download third-party keyboards, such as Swype, from the Android Market. Second, only Android phones come with physical keyboards, though they seem to be a dying breed.

Regarding Keyboard and typing is concerned, the iPhone 4S keyboard is great for its size, but some prefer a bigger screen and more customization options.

Web and Data Speeds

The iPhone 4S may have a fancy new dual-antenna system and the ability to reach 14.4 Mbps (theoretically) on AT&T, but it gets blown away by 4G Android phones. For example, the AT&T iPhone 4S delivered speeds as high as 5.3 Mbps but averaged 2.2 Mbps. Both the T-Mobile Galaxy SII (12.6 Mbps) and the Motorola Droid Bionic (11.6 Mbps) are faster.

In terms of loading web pages, we’ve seen a huge real-world difference as well. The iPhone 4S takes about 10 seconds to load many mobile sites (regardless of the network) versus about half that for true 4G phones. Everything on an iPhone 4S that involves data will require more patience than on an 4G Android phone, whether it’s streaming YouTube videos or updating your Facebook news feed. The only caveat is that 4G radios (especially LTE) can drain your battery in a hurry.

And here, the Android. 4G wins as speeds make a big difference in everyday use. The amount of time that is spend on waiting needs to be reduced.

Social Networking

Apple is making a big deal about Twitter integration with iOS 5, and it’s certainly welcome. You can share photos, websites, and more with just a couple of taps. However, Android goes deeper by including Facebook, as well as pretty much any other service that uses Android’s APIs.

For example, you don’t have to use Twitter on Android; you can use Tweetdeck instead. Android also works with Evernote, Flickr, GroupMe, LinkedIn—you name it. We just wish the Sharing option wasn’t two clicks away from the browser page.

Android is better in Social Networking. The iPhone 4S makes it easy to share stuff on Twitter, but you need to use dedicated apps for everything else.

Camera

Apple has raised the bar for photo quality—both in terms of speed and low-light performance—with the iPhone 4S, thanks to new optics and an improved backside illuminated sensor. It also captures sharp and smooth 1080p video. Android phones such as the Galaxy S II are only a step behind in terms of speed, though, and they take equally good photos outdoors.

While the iPhone 4S has an HDR feature, there’s not much else you can do when taking photos. An advanced Android phone such as the Amaze 4G has a panorama mode, HDR, burst shot mode, and more. And although the iPhone 4S has some editing features, the best Android phones go further, letting you add all sorts of effects without using a separate app.

No conclusion on camera. The iPhone 4S has the best camera we’ve used yet, but Android phones give you more control of your images—before and after the shot.

Apps

After trailing iOS for years, Android is finally catching up to Apple in terms of the sheer number of apps available in their respective stores. Apple has about 360,000 iPhone apps, compared to approximately 320,000 for Android (according to research firm Research2Guidance). You’ll also find that both app stores stock a lot of the same stuff, from Angry Birds and Words with Friends to Kindle and Pandora.

But if you dig deeper, you’ll find that the iPhone 4S has a better selection of high-quality games with more impressive graphics, such as Infinity Blade and Shadowgun. You’ll also find that apps either come to the iPhone first (such as Netflix) or exclusively (such as Instagram) and just look more polished (Facebook).

iPhone 4S Wins here. The iPhone has always been known for its apps, and at least for now it still has a quality and slight quantity edge.

What's Special?

Only the iPhone 4S has Siri, a fantastic voice-controlled assistant that can help you with everything from scheduling appointments to sending messages. Other advantages unique to the iPhone 4S include iTunes; Google only offers a subset of Apple's content. And then there’s iCloud, which does a better job than Google of keeping all of your content in sync across multiple devices. Last but not least is the iPhone’s vast number of available accessories. Having a single standard connector makes things a lot easier on makers of add-ons.

Android has plenty of unique strengths as well. In addition to offering 4G speeds, only Android has free GPS navigation built in. And only Android phones support NFC, which enables mobile payments and will gain even more power with Ice Cream Sandwich. With the beam feature you’ll be able to share all sorts of info with a tap.

iPhone 4S. Siri + more content + more accessories give Apple the win in this round.

End Note:

Out of Nine key factors, Android phones won five points, but the iPhone 4S took home seven -- making this head to head appear to be a decisive victory for the iPhone 4S. But it really comes down to what you value most in a smartphone. If it’s ease of use and better apps you’re after—as well as smooth performance and a great camera—the iPhone 4S can’t be beat.

Siri takes smartphones to the next level by serving your needs with real intelligence. As long as you can live with 3G speeds, you can’t go wrong with the iPhone 4S.

On the other hand, the fact that Android phones offer 4G should not be overlooked. It speeds up practically everything you do. Android also integrates with multiple social networks—instead of just Twitter—and you have a wider range of design choices. If you like the idea of customizing your interface to your heart’s content and want the option of a bigger screen, Android is the way to go.

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

It doesn't come as a surprise that Vodafone was the first to put up a holding page for the HTC EVO 3D Smartphone as it was also one of the first to publicly announce that it would sell the previous HTC Super phone, the Sensation. Vodafone doesn't say yet when the Smartphone will be available, offering only the option to register for future updates.

It shows that Vodafone UK is already preparing its pre-order campaign. You can already register your interest and there is a cool ad for you to enjoy.

Vodafone UK has uploaded a teaser video regarding the HTC EVO 3D, the exciting new dual-core Android 2.3 phone announced by HTC. The network has also put up a holding page for the phone on its online shop, so if you’re impressed by HTC’s rather chunky new 3D phone you can register your interest. Here’s a brief look at some of the EVO 3D’s features, courtesy of Vodafone:

The HTC EVO 3D is supposed to hit the shelves next month, so we guess now is a good time to start saving.

Two things one will like about the Evo 3D are the more RAM and bigger battery than the Sensation. Not many do care for the 3D. Its a Smart Phone and it needs to save lots of its battery for longer life. I guess 3D will spoil the party.

Many couldn't care less about the 3D so they would rather the better camera on the Sensation. They ma still be leaning towards the Sensation because it has beautiful, sleek, curved design while the Evo 3D is a chunky, heavy box in comparison.

For the U.S. specification HTC EVO 3D has slightly more RAM therefore should eliminate any lagging issues.

Battery issues being the worst thing. Looking at last year's Evo – almost all the users have said just how bad the battery was. And yes,  it is just for the reason i have said before. A Smart Phone with dual speed and a 3D Effect will consume large amount of its battery than a normal Smart Phone. Its the same for HTC Sensation.

HTC sensation is an amazing phone but there are some issues with the battery and yes, on some occasions it is required to charge the phone twice on a single day.And few also made some complaints that they have problem with the camera. Some green and red lines flickers on the screen. When i looked it up on Google, I found many such complaints related to this.

You can also have a look here:

http://androidforums.com/htc-sensation/356278-htc-sensation-camera-issue-due-lack-emc-protection.html

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

In this article we will see why it is not recommended to turn off your PC. And also lets see various power management options. With PCs designed to work with Windows power management, including good BIOS and device implementations, users can realize great power savings and take advantage of new PC usage scenarios that weren't previously possible.

We recommend you do not turn off the computer when you have finished using it. Windows likes to perform housekeeping tasks when you aren’t using the computer, so leaving it on, even when you’re not working, is a good idea. You can schedule programs to run at specified times for example, you can schedule Windows to collect your e-mail at 7:00 every morning.

Many computers power down the monitor, hard disk, and fan after a set time of inactivity. The computer itself, however, is still running. If your screen doesn’t power off automatically, you should turn off your monitor when you aren’t using the computer.

Many computer monitors (except for LCD monitors) use the lion’s share of the electricity consumed by a computer.

Powering off unused computers at night and on weekends can save up to $60 in energy costs per machine per year! But the goals of Green IT often conflict with the needs of IT administrators to deploy critical updates.

But a good power management can help you get to a conclusion on this.

Choosing Lock Button Modes

Since Windows Vista, Windows Operating System includes Lock buttons. Lock buttons display on the Start menu and provide options for putting Windows or your computer in a different operating mode. For example, when you are ready to shut down your computer, you can use the Shut Down mode.

The following list describes each mode Windows provides:

Switch User: Allows you to change from the current user to another user without shutting down the computer.

Log Off: Allows you to log off from Windows and any network connections you have established.

Lock: Allows you to lock your computer so users cannot access it, but it allows your programs to continue running. This is handy if you are downloading a large file and you need to walk away from your computer while it continues to download.

Restart: Shuts down Windows, and then reloads it (useful if your computer starts acting funny).

Sleep: Puts the computer into a sleep mode, which shuts down the hard drive and turns off the monitor to conserve power consumption. Programs remain open and your documents are automatically saved. When you awaken your computer, these devices turn back on.

Hibernate: Puts your computer into a power-saving mode that is similar to the Sleep mode. Hibernate is available only if you use the advanced power settings in Windows.

Away: Makes it appear that your computer is shut down, but some tasks like burning CDs and recording television programs still run. If you move the mouse or type on the keyboard, nothing happens.

Shut Down: Shuts down Windows. Windows displays a message when you can safely turn off the computer. Don’t turn off the computer until you see this message. Computers with advanced power management shut off automatically.

Setting Windows to Shut Down by Itself
Windows includes OnNow, technology that powers down the computer when nothing is happening and powers it back up when the computer is needed again. To use OnNow, choose Start | Control Panel, click System And Maintenance, and then run the Power Options program. To Use this feature, Your PC should have the OnNow-capable hardware.  With PCs designed to work with Windows power management, including good BIOS and device implementations, users can realize great power savings and take advantage of new PC usage scenarios that weren't previously possible.

The OnNow Power-Managed PC

Most users prefer to leave PCs turned off when not in use to reduce noise and electricity use. However, for new uses at home and in business, the PC must be instantly available to answer the phone, display e-mail, or browse the Web, but be silent and use minimal energy when not in use.

To achieve this, the OnNow-capable hardware, operating system, and applications must work together in these ways:

• The PC appears to be off, but is ready for use immediately when the user presses the On button and return to its "off but ready" state automatically when the system is idle.
• Software adjusts its behaviour when the PCs power state changes for example, software does not inadvertently keep the PC busy with unnecessary background tasks.
• All devices participate in power management. Any device can have its power state changed by the system.

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

Having your nine most recently used documents on the Office Button menu is handy—but
you may find nine is not nearly enough.

You can increase the number shown up to 50, and you can pin (fasten) particular documents to the menu so that they remain there even if you haven’t used them recently.

To customize the Office Button menu, follow these steps (You can also download this step-by-step instruction video on how to Display Or Hide Recently Opened Documents In Microsoft Office Applications):

1. Click the Office Button, and then click Word Options. Word displays the Word Options dialog box.

2. In the left pane, click the Advanced category, and then scroll down to the Display section.

3. In the Show This Number Of Recent Documents box, set the number of documents you want to have on the Office Button menu. You can choose any number between 0 and 50 (inclusive).

4. Click the OK button. Word closes the Word Options dialog box.

When you increase the number in the Show This Number Of Recent Documents dropdown list, Word doesn’t add the extra files immediately to the list on the Office Button menu, but rather adds them one by one as you open and close files.

This is because Word stores the names only of the specified number of recent files—it doesn’t have a secret store of extra filenames that it can add instantly to the list. So if, for security reasons, you reduce the number to 0, someone can’t increase that number and immediately see which files you’ve been working with. (But they may be able to find that information elsewhere in the Windows operating system.)

To make Word keep a particular document on the Office Button menu, open the menu, and then click the pin next to the file’s name. Word pushes in the pin to indicate that the document is “pinned” in place, and then keeps the file in that place on the list until you unpin it by clicking the pin again.

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

Windows 7 Enterprise having this problem when installing printers. And the error message that Windows gives is, "Windows cannot connect to the printer." Details: "Operation failed with error 0x0000007e".

What is the solution for this error, if we do not want to have the computers with local port definitions.

If you are an Windows administrator, try the following script: "rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /q /n \\myserver\myprinter"

Here is the solution for 0x0000007e “Printer Cannot Connect Operation Failed ”:

I wanted to post my findings for people searching this.

My Environment:

Server: Windows Server 2008 32 bit

Printers: HP LJ 4100, HP LJ 4600

Driver: HP Universal Print Driver

Clients: Mixture of W7 x86 and x32

Symptoms: 32 bit clients have no issue adding printers, 64 bit clients are unable to add printers and receive an error of "Cannot Connect to Printer" with an error code of 0x0000007e.

My resolution:

Open 2 command prompts on the server and do a dir on c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3\hpcpn*.dll in one window and a dir on c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\x64\3\hpcpn*.dll in another window.

Chances are, you will not have the same file in both directories, which is what windows wants. I've tried renaming and I've tried copying the other dll file, these methods don't work. You can muck with installing new drivers all day to get these files to align, or you can do the following:

When installing for a 64 bit client:

Take note of the three digit number at the end of that dll file in the x64\3 directory

Open regedit and browse to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Print\Printers\<Printer Name>\CopyFiles\BIDI. Change the value of the "Module" key to end with the dll that we found in the \x64\3 directory

When installing for a 32 bit client:

Take note of the three digit number at the end of that dll file in the w32x86\3 directory

Open regedit and browse to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Print\Printers\<Printer Name>\CopyFiles\BIDI. Change the value of the "Module" key to end with the dll that we found in the \w32x86\3 directory

I hope this helps everyone, if it still does not work for you, just read more on this page…

I spent a long time working this issue with HP and Canon and what ended up solving the 0x0000007e error on the Win 7 x64 clients using a Windows 2008 print server:

• Logon to the Windows 7 client machine
• Click on the Start button
• Click on Devices and Printers
• Click and highlight any printer already installed on the local machine. (This should allow you to see the “Print Server Properties” button right underneath the address bar at the top of the page.
• Click on Print Server Properties button
• Click on the Drivers Tab
• Highlight and remove every single driver (Make sure you are on the client machine NOT THE SERVER!!)
• Click OK and then Close the Printer Page.
• Go to Start /Run / and type in services.msc
• Find the print spooler service
• Stop the print spooler for at least 10 seconds
• Restart the print spooler service
• Go back to the print server and try and reinstall the printer

It works for you, that is fine.

In addition, according to Microsoft database, if the driver has color profiles, the add printer wizard will fail. It is a known bug in Windows 7.

I found a hotfix on Microsoft page which was supposed to solve this issue.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982728/en-us#appliesto

It might help you.

And if it does not work, I would like to know if adding the printer as local printer works. Please check if solutions on the following thread will work:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7install/thread/a7fe6b93-5752-49a6-add7-0cf129b7b348

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

There was an overwhelming response to the next generation Windows 8 operating system from Microsoft. Nearly 300 new features were added to the new operating system. Microsoft is planning to add more nee feature before actual final product is released. Here are the ten most important features of Windows 8.

You can downloaded Windows 8, and if you want to experience Windows 8, the best way is to install it as an Virtual Machine. Follow this link that best suites you.

For Installing Windows 8 On VMWare 8,

For Installing Windows 8 On VirtualBox,

Ok, here we go, the following are what I feel to be the best 10 features of Windows 8.

Supports both x86 PCs and ARM tablets: Windows 8 is the only operating system which operates on both ARM based tablets and traditional x86 based PCs from Intel and AMD.

Always On, Always Connected Mode:

A new mode called "always on, always connected" allows you to let tablets act like smart phones. The tablets can be in standby mode without disconnecting from Internet. Windows 8 is designed to work on both PCs and ARM tablets.

Tile based user interface : The Windows 8 start menu is customizable through tiles, which is different from traditional desktop icons which allows you to view live information from the Windows 8 Metro style apps.

Charms: A new concept called 'charms' is introduced in Windows 8. Charms is a new implementation of the traditional Windows Start bar. Charms can also be used to configure settings for individual apps quickly.

Charms are basically a set of features which are handled by OS but is used/implemented by the installed apps. When you expand the tool bar on the right hand side ( swiping from the right edge of the screen towards the center) you can see a couple of buttons like Start button, share, settings, search etc. These are the 'charms'.

A charm is a feature that called through the OS by using that tool bar but implemented by individual apps. So whenever a user wants to change settings for an app, that setting is available under the settings charm in the tool bar.

Snap Multi-Tasking: The Snap Multi tasking is another new feature introduced in Windows 8. The Snap feature allows the user to run multiple apps side by side on single screen. This feature is available only on high resolution monitors only.

Snap multi tasking is one of the new feature introduced in Windows 8. The Snap feature allows the user to run multiple apps side by side on single screen. You can make the app smaller or bigger by dragging the bar for the app. But Windows 8 does not allow you run all the applications on a single screen. But this feature is available only on high resolution monitors only. It is possible to enable the Snap feature in low resolution monitors too.

Windows 8 Control Panel: Microsoft has redesigned the control panel for Windows 8. New options are included in the Windows 8 Control Panel. The new options included are Personalize, Users, Wireless, Notifications, General, Privacy, Search and Share. The new Windows 8 Control Panel has been widely appreciated by the users.

The new Metro Control Panel of Windows 8 does not replace the old Category View included in earlier versions of Windows. You will still be able to switch to old category view of Control Panel in Windows 8.

Web Navigation by Touch: The new browser - Internet Explorer 10 built into Windows 8 offers faster browsing along with rapid gesture based zoom, pan and website navigation.

Windows 8 supports Touch Key boards for touch screen devices: Windows 8 contains two soft keyboards : one is an enhanced traditional keyboard and a new thumbs keyboard. In order to make your typing faster on the virtual keyboard, the new keyboard suggests words as your type on the screen. You can then tap to select a suggested word. There is a spell check like feature designed to automatically correct spelling mistakes.

Enhanced copy feature: This is another feature introduced in Windows 8. All copy operations are performed in a single dialog box, instead of requiring you to perform file copying in separate dialog boxes for each app.

The new dialog box for file copying allows you to pause, resume and stop the copy operation. You will also get a warning message if you try to copy one version of file over another. Now you will be able to see the speed of data transfer, the transfer rate trend and how much data is left to be transferred.

Native support for USB 3.0: USB 3.0 ports operates at speeds of up to 10 times more faster than USb 2.0 ports. Windows 8 now supports USB 3.0 natively. Native drivers for USB 3.0 are provided in Windows 8.

Support multiple monitors: Windows 8 now supports multiple monitors. The Windows 8 include capability for extending the task bar across two PCs, without need for any third-party apps. It is possible to stretch wall paper across two monitors or display the Start Screen on one PC and the desktop on another PC.

It is now easy to switch between multiple monitors. The primary monitor has a Start button and the secondary monitor has a switcher button. Clicking or tapping on the switcher button will allow you to turn secondary monitor into primary one.

This is what we think to be the most wanted features of Windows 8 Operating System. And if you find even more interesting features or the one that you find more important than those listed here, please leave your comment…

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

You can choose how icons on the Windows desktop and in Explorer windows behave as you could in Windows Me, 98 Second Edition, and XP. Your choices are

• Single-click (Web style) To select the icon without running or opening it, move your mouse pointer to the icon without clicking, and wait a second. To run or open the icon, click it once. Icon labels appear underlined (like web page links).

• Double-click (Classic Windows style) To select the icon, click it once. To run or open the icon, click it twice. Icon labels are not underlined.

Follow these steps to choose between single-click and double-click:

1. Choose Start | Control Panel. Click the (Appearance And Personalization category For Windows Vista) or Folder Options In Windows 7.

For Windows XP, Click On My Computer – Tools – Folder Options.

2. Click the Folder Options icon. You see the Folder Options dialog box, shown in Figure below. If the General tab isn’t selected, click it.

Whether you use single-click or double-click, you can right-click icons to see a shortcut menu of commands you can perform on the icon

The General tab of the Folder Options dialog box, where you can specify how Windows
icons work.

3. In the Click Items As Follows area, click either the Single-click or Double-click radio button. If you choose Single-click, choose whether you want icon titles to be underlined all the time (Consistent With My Browser) or only when your mouse pointer is on the icon (Only When I Point At Them).

4. Click OK.

That’s it. This is how you can Choosing Between Single Click and Double Click To Open Files And Folders In Windows

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 is an Android Gingerbread phone with 3" capacitive touchscreen display. The phone offers Bluetooth, 3G, and Wi-Fi connectivity. It has 2MP camera with video recording feature.

The phone has social networking app and IM to let users stay in touch. Other features include A-GPS, push email, 832MHz processor, and 32GB expandable memory.

In this article lets see some of the good and the disadvantages of Samsung Galaxy Y S5360. And to start with, here are some of the Good features of Samsung Galaxy Y S5360:

Very responsive touch screen and also excellent Battery Life, I've downloaded angry birds and other games and it worked well, no lags whatsoever. YouTube videos in HD showed very good on the dolphin HD browser.

Battery life is up to 3 days on standby, but I tried using it often for today to drain the battery and it lasted around more than 10 hours, with me playing games and using Wi-Fi.

Some of the disadvantages are here:

It only has android 2.3, and most mobile running froyo can be upgraded to 2.3.

Its screen is too small & resolution of the screen is pathetic, typing SMS will be much tougher. Also, many android apps will not run in this resolution.

Another thing the inbuilt browser doesn't support embedded flash video,but with dolphin HD browser you can see any video. The browser is really smooth and no lag.

In any Android phone from Samsung can use the Dolphin Browser to support flash. You can download Dolphin HD browser from Android Market.

If you face problem with Bluetooth connectivity, and if you are not able to connect Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 with your laptop as a modem through Bluetooth, and if you feel that there is some problem in Bluetooth, make a note that, Android Bluetooth devices are not discoverable by default. so maybe you need to turn on Bluetooth visibility which turns visibility on for 2 minutes only. menu-->wireless and network --> Bluetooth settings --> visible (tick)

If you still not happy with your mobile, Don't do anything just go to your seller and tell him to replace it with a new phone. Don't go 2 service centre. There is a 7day replacement guarantee. Just force your seller to replace it with a new phone.

Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 at this price range of Rs.7000 is good. Excellent buy, you won't regret it for all the features of this phone. Very efficient and affordable. Go for this phone if u have low budget.

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

In regards to functionality, Nokia E6 can make Yahoo calls, MSN calls, Skype calls, Google Talk calls and more. Plus it has built-in VOIP and SIP which means you can go to your regular phone book and make an internet call just like E51 and E71.

The question that every one ask is, why Nokia always goes with Symbian OS and not android. People think that  android phone is better than Symbian and a capacitive touch screen is better. Please remember, Nokia E6 has capacitive touch screen.

Full Focus Not Fixed Focus:

Nokia E6 has got a full focus (EDoF) camera which is different from fixed focus camera. It is Tempting but Not really. The deal breaker is the full focus. Again, its called full-focus not fixed-focus. Though many refer it as a disadvantages, it too have some advantages like,

• Nokia E6 can take pictures instantly. There is no focusing delay. You'll never miss a moment.
• All pictures on Nokia E6 will always be in focus from 50 cm to infinity. It'll never take an out-of-focus picture.

Reference: http://conversations.nokia.com

Nokia E6 has got the gorilla glass which is little bit flexible than normal glass , it is not going to rigid as any other glass, you can see a preview of Gorilla Glass In This video.

Nokia E6 has some of the nice features with excellent sharpness on screen. Touchscreen is fine, but most people will be using the keyboard a lot which is also comfortable. One of the down-side is that some applications on the OVI Store are currently not compatible with the 640x480=325ppi screen resolution, leading to a application sizes that are too tiny. Hope that more E6-compatible applications are available in the near future.

The D-pad on Nokia E6 is welcome when you need to hit small links on websites - and it is perfectly usable to navigate the menus. You can pretend there's no touchscreen if you want. Just one thing: a track pad would've made quite a lot of sense – especially in the web browser. The touchscreen is fine but they didn't get rid of the D-pad. Could've easily used the E72 combo and thrown in a track pad.

Understanding Supported Audio And video Formats For Any Mobile Device:

What most people need to understand is that in the world of digital video there are two things to remember, Containers and Codecs. An example of a container is MP4 and a codec used in that container is XVID. E6 supports Matroska (MKV). I have quite a bit of MKV files.

Here is some tips about the codecs and supported format in Nokia E6. Most of us don’t know that the container is different from codec.

• Example for Container:  AVI, MP4, MKV, FLV, TS, M2TS, etc.
• Example for Video Codec:  MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC (H.264), DivX, Xvid, VC-1, VP6, etc.
• Example for Audio Codec:  MP3, AAC, AC-3 (Dolby), DTS, Vorbis, etc.

While Nokia E6 can open all current major container formats like AVI, MP4 and MKV, it does NOT mean it can play all video and audio codecs stored in them.

The world of digital video formats can be a very complicated one. And its very hard to say whether all video file will work on all device. AVI is quite an old format now as Hh263 and H.264 are so much more efficient. Files in any video format even mp4 might not work on some devices because of DRM or the bitrate is too high for the device. So to sum up its hit and miss with video formats because they are complex files.

Even with 3GP video files being quite the standard sometimes it won't work. by the time when Nokia 6230 was launched, 3GP files was said to be the only supported video file format but I remember one or two refusing to work because .mp4 codecs were used in them and the 6230 will not support the MP4 format. 

3GP is officially known as 3GPP and then came 3GPP2 which is said to be very close to MP4 but the funny thing is that I have seen 3GPP and 3GPP2 files that had better quality than many MP4 files. As I said it's a complicated format.

Nokia E6 by itself will not block text messages from a particular person. If you are looking to block in such a way, Just get Handy Blacklist 1.0 or 2.0 or even 3.0 or higher if you like. It's very good. And it have been tested on previous E-Series and it works like a charm using an extremely small amount of resources.

Another thing that is missing in Nokia E6 is, it does not have the feature to search songs on music player.

For Example: I want to search for a song in my music library, so I opened the music player, selected ''tracks'' to view all my existing songs. But I can't see an option to search for a single song. On e72 all you need to do is, just type in the name of the song, and it would find it directly. However on the Nokia E6 I can't just type the name of the song because there isn't any option to search for a song. So the only thing that is possible for me is to scroll and find this single song which is really annoying.

Also remember, the screen resolution on Nokia E6 better than Nokia E72 and because of the this (may be) the battery life will be different in both E72 and E6 though they both are having the same battery pack.

Music / Sound Effects:

Regarding the volume of the speaker, I've been using a Nokia N73 before I bought the E6, and I must say the N73 is louder in terms of the loudspeaker. The loudness while using the headset for both the N73 and E6 are pretty much the same (in my opinion), but quality is much better in the E6.

Navigation through the phone is a pleasure to the eyes. Crisp and clear. Minor lags are very negligible. In my case, I encounter it only when using heavy apps. Again, that’s an option.

Nokia E6 has few drawbacks as discussed above, and here is one more to that list, the absence of notification light when there is an incoming message.

Touch On E Series:

You pretty much have to use the touchscreen throughout using the phone. It's pretty intuitive, though. The main thing is, there aren't the usual left and right buttons under the screen as hardware keys anymore, so you'll have to press the screen to accept or back out of menus/settings.

Even if you are not good on the touchscreen aspect, after having the phone for a few days you will find better using it more and more. You will hardly ever use the d-pad anymore and it makes inputting text or selecting links in the browser a much more enjoyable experience as you just quickly tap on the field you need instead of scrolling over to it.

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

Windows has been giving me a hard time with audio drivers. The problem occurred shortly after the Patch that have come from Windows update where updates were applied.

I keep getting Code 52 in the device manager : windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers required for this device. The drivers used to work fine until then.

Computer is a  running Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit SP1 with all the latest updates from Microsoft.

Try the following fixes:

• Uninstalling/reinstalling the driver and deleting the device and it's drivers from device manager before reinstalling.
• Test your sound card using Diagnostic Utility from your vendor, (if it is dell, possible Dell Diagnostic Utility), and see if the sound card works.
• Try system restore to revert to an earlier state, most probabley it should work…

And if all these steps failed to get the sound card working again, try these.

Well, now coming to the actual problem. One simple reason for this error is, your windows 7 system file have been damaged or has been corrupted. And Just to simple close this issue down, you can reinstall Windows 7 which will actually solve the problem.

You don’t want to format and install, just install on top of your current OS, and you can still able to find your old files in C:\Windows.Old.

While I never like to reformat a computer, too much time will actually be spent troubleshooting this issue and some times no headway will be made. Simple and fast, is to re install Windows 7. Or if you wish to fix and troubleshoot this, go ahead!

Please fully uninstall the driver, then download the appropriate drive in the following link.

Drivers From Dell

After installing this driver, please use Sigverif.exe to check the unsigned device drivers.

1. Click Start Menu, then type sigverif.exe.

2. Click sigverif.exe which is listed in the Program list.

3. Hit start to verify the drivers, when it finish's, click Advanced=>View Log.

If the sound card driver is unsigned, you may rename these files, then try to reinstall the driver again. If the issue still happen, I suggest you to contact the manufacturer to ask for a signed driver for this kind of issue.

As you can see in the above figure, none of the audio drivers are listed.

When installing drivers for the audio device manually via the device manager, you will usually get the same code 52 error. On the second IDT HD audio device, you may get the following error :

"The class installer has denied the request to install or upgrade this device".

I have tried installing previous versions of the driver, both from the website you provided and with Dell tech support, but the problem persists.

I suggest you to rename all the files, and then try to install the driver again.

If it still does not help:

Just to finally close this issue down, we actually reinstalled Windows 7 on this laptop last week and it has solved the problem. While I never like to reformat a computer, too much time had already been spent troubleshooting this issue and no headway had been made. Thanks for all your help Juke.

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com

Excel comes with lots of chart types, including column, line, pie, and so on. However, many of you ask how to make other kinds of charts, such as floating column charts, Gantt charts, combination charts, organization charts, flow charts, hierarchy charts, histograms, or Pareto charts

Floating column charts

A floating column chart is great for comparing the low and high levels in a value range, represented by the bottom and top of the floating columns, as you can see in this daily blood sugar level ranges chart.

For the chart below, I create a stacked column chart from two data series on the worksheet. The first data series measures to the lowest value of each daily blood sugar range and the second data series measures the actual blood sugar level range that I want to display in the chart. Then I hide the first data series to simulate a floating effect.

This floating column chart shows daily blood sugar level ranges.

Gantt charts

I can use the same method to create a Gantt chart that displays the sequence of a few tasks I have scheduled. For this chart, I'll use a stacked bar chart that has two data series. When I hide the first data series, the chart will show floating bars, which is perfect for a Gantt chart.

This Gantt chart uses floating bars to present the 5 tasks in sequence

Combination charts

Combination (or combo) charts are also not available in the list of predefined chart types. When I want to emphasize different types of information in a chart, I can use two or more chart types in the same chart. I often combine a column chart with a line chart for an instant visual effect that might make the chart easier to understand. If the data of the different chart types varies a lot, I also use a second vertical axis (the one on the right in the chart below) for the second chart type. This really helps clarify the data that's shown in a combo chart.

This combo chart shows recent home sales

Organization, flow, and hierarchy charts

Organization, flow, and hierarchy charts are an entirely different animal. There's no easy way to simulate these types of charts by using predefined chart types. Instead, I need to use SmartArt graphics to create them.

This example shows an organization chart

Histogram and Pareto charts

Histogram and Pareto charts are column charts that display frequency data, but they are not available as predefined chart types either. To create them, I've used the Histogram tool of the Analysis ToolPak, an Excel add-in program that comes with Excel.

This example shows a histogram

These are just a few examples that may inspire you to create that "other" chart type. I'd love to hear about any creative ways you have used to present your data in a chart type that simply isn't available in the list of chart types.

Haja is currently working in a multi-disciplinary role that combines programming including, SAP Administration, Network Management, and System Administration. He is passionate about Technology and this blog is his platform for sharing his ideas. If you like this post, Please leave a comment. And if you have any queries, mail to help @ bench3 . com