Justyn Smith | Blog » Windows

CrunchBang Linux and EeePC 1000HE

Justyn — Sat, 08 May 2010 10:14:35 +0000

I was running Windows 7 on my EeePC and decided to get rid of it. I formatted my drive completely and installed CrunchBang Linux 10 (Statler). Statler is an Alpha release and based off of Debian Squeeze but still running the lightweight Openbox.

For those that are familiar with GNU/Linux know that CrunchBang Linux was using Ubuntu as a base, but now they are using Debian instead. You can have a read about why they switched to Debian.

For anyone with a low-end machine or even wanting to get a nice fast distro running I would highly recommend CrunchBang.

Windows 7 Snap feature in XP & Vista

Justyn — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:06:25 +0000

One of the things I like about Windows 7 is the Snap feature. You can drag a window to the left of the screen, and it will be tiled vertically on the left, same as the right of the screen. If you drag a window to the top of the screen it will be maximised.

There is a nice tool called AeroSnap that enables these features on Windows Vista and XP. Amongst the drag-and-drop window features, it also has the following hotkeys.

WIN + LEFT ARROW – Snap window to left of screen. Unsnap window on right.
WIN + RIGHT ARROW – Snap window to right of screen. Unsnap window on left.
WIN + UP ARROW – Maximise current window.
WIN + DOWN ARROW – Restore maximised window. Minimise window.

Banking online? Don’t use Windows

Justyn — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:06:31 +0000

A NSW Police cybercrime expert recommends using Ubuntu, Puppy Linux or the Apple iPhone, steering clear of Microsoft Windows if you want to bank online.

In a news article Detective Inspector Bruce vad der Graaf says:

If you are using the internet for a commercial transaction, use a Linux boot up disk – such as Ubuntu or some of the other flavours. Puppylinux is a nice small distribution that boots up fairly quickly.

Another option is the Apple iPhone. It is only capable of running one process at a time so there is really no danger from infection.

So what Operating System or device do you use when you do your online banking?

From Ubuntu to Windows 7

Justyn — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:07:22 +0000

Well I was running Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty on my EeePC 1000HE and was going great, so I decided to do a dist upgrade to 9.10 Karmic, bad idea!

It downloaded and installed fine, but when I rebooted wicd wouldn’t pick up my wireless network, so no internet basically means I hosed the machine.

I had a copy of Windows 7 RTM so thought I would give it another run on the EeePC, and I must say it is magically fast, I am loving it. Anyone with a newer modern EeePC running XP or Vista, I would highly recommend updating to Windows 7.

Windows 7 Beta Testing – The Nightmares

Justyn — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:55:48 +0000

I was skimming through Chris’ blog and noticed a post about Windows 7 Nightmares.

Basically Windows 7 Nightmares is an anonymous blog with information about how and why Microsoft mis-managed the Windows 7 Beta and goes into quite some details. I would recommend that you check out the blog, it’s quite a good read.

Windows 7 RC Screenshots

Justyn — Sat, 02 May 2009 03:29:02 +0000

I decided to install Windows 7 RC on my laptop today. It is running quite quick and I am loving it, I don’t think I will go back to Vista anytime soon. The last version of Windows 7 I ran was the original beta (7000) that was released to the public.

I thought I would post some screenshots of the new things I like in Windows 7, so without further ado, here they are.

System Information

Computer & Winver

Visual Styles (Has an Australia theme).

Messenger options from the Start Menu.

Thumbnail View

Hovering on an option in Thumbnail View.

Windows Vista on a ASUS 1000HE EeePC

Justyn — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:26:51 +0000

I will add some pictures of the machine later, stay tuned!

The other day I got Chell and I an ASUS 1000HE EeePC (Black). Now this little netbook packs quite the punch. It lasts up to 9.5 hours on battery which is quite astonishing. It comes with Windows XP Home Edition and runs quite well, but what I wanted to do was install Windows Vista.

Now the specs of the 1000HE seemed decent enough to run Windows Vista. It has an Intel Atom N280 1.66GHz processor, 1GB DDR2-667 memory (1 DIMM) and an Intel GMA950 for graphics. It seemed quite reasonable that Windows Vista will run on it.

It took roughly 40 minutes to get Vista installed on it and then came the drivers. I needed to download the ACPI patch from the ASUS website to get the Fn+F1-F12 e.t.c. buttons working.

I also downloaded the graphics driver for the GMA945 adapter from the Intel website which allowed Windows Vista to run with Aero enabled. I also downloaded the sound driver for the Realtek Hi-Definition Audio and the WLAN driver so I could use the wireless.

Everything else was picked up / drivers installed which was quite good (even the webcam worked). Windows Vista seemed to run quite smoothly even with Aero enabled. I feel that it actually runs quicker than what Windows XP did.

The battery life dropped from the 9.5 hours to 7.5 hours which to me is still quite good. I’m generally able to charge the netbook before it goes flat anyways.

Windows 7 Build 7057 Login Screen for Windows XP, Vista and 7

Justyn — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:44:51 +0000

Most of you already know that Windows 7 build 7057 was leaked. Most of you probably noticed the lovely new login screen and would like it on previous versions of Windows.

Look no further, you can have the Windows 7 Build 7057 Login Screen working on Windows XP, Vista and 7 now! Continue reading to see how to download & install them after the jump.

Vishal Gupta has released copies of the login screen for Windows XP and Windows Vista and 7.

Windows XP: After downloading, extract the ZIP file using WinZip, WinRAR or 7-zip and look for the “LogonUI.exe” file in “Normal Screen” or “Wide Screen” folders. That’s the file which contains the login screen. You’ll need to replace existing “logonui.exe” file present in “%windir%\System32” folder with this downloaded one. Use Replacer to replace the file.

Vista and 7: After downloading the ZIP file, extract it using WinRAR or 7-zip. Now install “Stardock LogonStudio for Vista” which is FREE and included in the pack.

After installing LogonStudio, double-click on the “SevenVG Login Screen.logonvista” file. It’ll open in LogonStudio, apply the login screen and you have done.

Desktop Icons as list view

Justyn — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 07:19:17 +0000

I remember back when I was using Windows XP there was a shell extension that allowed you to have your Desktop Icons as a list view. I did a quick Google Search and found an application called Deskview.

Deskview not only works in Windows XP but also works in Windows Vista (x86 and x64). To really shrink your icons in Vista, essentially what you would want to do is set them to “classic” icons or hold down your CTRL key and use your mouse wheel to shrink or enlarge them. Then you will want to run deskview.exe to change them to list view.

Now what this small application does is simple and it doesn’t have any options. You double-click it to set your Desktop Icons as a list view then double-click it again to change them back to the default setting.

On the left is what the normal icons look like, and on the right is what the list view looks like.

Note: I didn’t create this program, nor do I know who did. If someone knows of, or you are the author of this software please don’t hesitate to contact me to add your credit!

Acronis True Image Home 2009

Justyn — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 08:35:43 +0000

Well I did a clean install of Windows Vista yesterday and got all my programs and applications installed. This time I decided to create an image of the drive, and see how the backup / restore goes. My main drive (C:) is 83GB and after Vista and all the applications it has 35GB used. I downloaded and installed Acronis True Image Home 2009 from the Acronis website (direct link).

I created a full backup of my main partition, which was only 15GB after compression and took 20 minutes to create, after that the image was verified for redundancy. I then created the bootable rescue media which was only around 85MB, so can fit on a MiniCD.

I booted the disc, and did a system restore from the backup I created on my External HDD, all in all it took 25 minutes to restore, and worked beautifully.

So if your looking for a great image backup / recovery solution, I highly recommend Acronis True Image from personal experience.