Installing Windows 7 alongside Windows Vista was convenient but I was a little lazy moving my files. When I couldn’t put it off, I dragged and dropped the files from my backup to the Documents folder. Realising that this would take some time, I went off to get some dinner.

Sadly, I returned to find that there had been an out of memory error while copying one of the files. I clicked on Retry but then it happened again.

So I went back to what I’d used to make the backup in the first place, and should have used to restore it, Freefilesync.

This is a clever (and free) utility that can be used for large file transfers or for backups. It compares two folders (including subfolders) and then copies files between them so they become identical.

In this case, where there are gigabytes of files to copy, it has the big advantage that you can save the job and come back to it later on if you are interrupted (I dislike leaving my computer on overnight). It also meant that there was no problem with the fact that I had got halfway through the files when I had to cancel copying.

Files can be compared either by size and date, or by their contents and there are several templates for how to handle situations where a file with the same name and location exists on both sides. These rules can be overruled for individual files.

Just as importantly, you can decide what happens when files are deleted, with the option to copy them to another folder, just to make sure nothing important is lost.

Posted by Tim Smith on January 12, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you’ve been put off upgrading because you’re not sure if software will work, this spreadsheet from Microsoft if something you should read.

The Windows 7 Application Compatibility List was created for IT professionals, but a large spreadsheet is hardly complicated. There are entries for around 5542 different programs with information on the latest version, contact details (very useful) and compatibility status for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7.

It looks like there are regular updates too, the download page says it was published on 16 November (two days ago).

Posted by Tim Smith on November 18, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Themes are another part of Windows to see an improvement with 7. I’ve appreciated being able to select several groups of wallpapers for my Desktop, especially as Windows 7 can now change wallpapers automatically.

More themes can be found at the Personalization Gallery. There aren’t any previews of the themes, clicking on the picture starts the download.

The themes only work with Windows 7 but the wallpapers in the Desktop Backgrounds tab are simple jpg images so they will work with earlier versions.

In fact, it is possible to extract the wallpapers from the theme files if you have 7-zip installed. Download the theme pack. The filename will be something like Face.themepack. Right-click on this file, click on 7-zip and then Open archive. A 7-zip window will appear showing the files in the pack. Double-click on DesktopBackground and then extract the photos. I dragged and dropped them to a folder in my Wallpapers folder. Yes I have a folder for wallpapers, mainly due to getting a new set every month from Smashing Magazine.

There is also a video and a step by step guide to making your own theme, both modifying an existing theme on your computer and then saving

You can also find more Desktop gadgets here, along with a link to the gallery.live.com website for the full collection.

Posted by Tim Smith on November 11, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)

So far my move to Windows 7 has been an easy one. Installation was straightforward (well, after I gave up on an upgrade) and I’ve not had any problems installing software, including the relatively old Office 2003.

One relief has been that the programs the Upgrade utility be removed before Windows 7 could be installed have not caused me any problems. Even so it’s not unusual for there to be compatibility problems when a new version of Windows comes out. There’s a thread over on the Computeractive Forums where people are sharing the programs that have problems in Windows 7. Thankfully it’s a small list and I’m hoping that it remains that way.

Posted by Tim Smith on November 4, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (7)

It seems the problem of having different internal and external version numbers hasn’t been fixed in Windows 7. If a program asks for the Operating System version, it is told NT6.1.

Hopefully this won’t affect most people because all they’ll see is Windows 7. But it can depend on whether programs know how to interpret NT6.1. For example Opera 10 identifies Windows 7 as NT6.1. It’s just one more thing for me to hold in mind when answering questions. A lot of people used to mistake their Office version for Windows ending up with Windows 97 confusion.

The problem is described in more detail on the Windows Vista Developer Centre. The also have the honesty to mark the impact frequency as high.

HT to the Microsoft Schools Blog which mentioned this oddity when discussing their web traffic stats.

Posted by Tim Smith on September 21, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Windows Vista (and Office 2007) packaging was a bit of a mystery to me. I failed to get it open on the first attempt and still can’t understand the idea behind a box that doesn’t really stack very well.

I was pleased to read on the Windows 7 Team Blog that the packaging for Windows 7 will at least open like a normal CD case, even it it will still have the curved top. See the blog post for all the details of how it’s better for the environment too.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 25, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (7)

Continuing the Windows 7 theme of fixing things that were/are very annoying in Windows Vista, the process of connecting to a wireless network has been improved in Windows 7.

Specifically when you are asked to enter the WEP or WPA key for the network, the characters are displayed by default and only replaced by stars if you select the option. Showing the characters isn’t really much of a security risk, but does make life easier, especially if the key is hard to guess.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 23, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Something that has frustrated me greatly about Vista is that you cannot remove a USB key if it is open in Windows Explorer. You could in Windows XP, and if there are no other files open it seems needlessly fussy. I accept that the preview may have files open but as it’s part of Windows Explorer it should be able to close the file.

Anyway, Windows 7 RC1 has redeemed Microsoft. I have just been able to select Safely Remove hardware when the contents of my USB key where displayed in Windows Explorer.

Granted it’s not a big change, but Windows 7 is impressing me partly because many of those little annoyances in Vista have been fixed.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 22, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)

I blogged a month back weeks ago about the power plans in Vista, and how there isn’t really any difference between the Balanced and High Performance plans. Well apart from the noise of my notebook fan on constantly that is.

Windows 7 appears to have got rid of high performance altogether as you can see here.

I think this is a good thing. There was no real performance benefit to running in High Performance mode and Balanced should help save power. That gives longer battery life for notebook users, and hopefully saves on the electricity bill for everyone.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 11, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (18)

Having found a spare notebook with a suitable spec, I’ve decided to give Windows 7 RC1 a go as the main operating system.

I’ve kept Windows XP as a backup just in case I come across some software that won’t play nicely.

So far installation has been very quick and painless with only one minor hitch. Unfortunately the installer won’t let me shrink partitions on the hard disk so I couldn’t make room for Windows 7. Just as well I had a Linux LiveCD to hand. Mandriva Linux as it happens. Hopefully that will be sorted out in the final release. I’m sure Vista could do this.

It’s now installed and the internet is connected but I’ve still got to sort out the graphics drivers.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 10, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (11)