What Happened  to the Quick Launch Toolbar?

Many Windows users may be accustomed to using and customizing the Quick Launch toolbar, a useful means of always having an always visible icon to your most commonly used programs. In my experience it is not uncommon to find users that add icons to almost all of their applications on this useful toolbar. To these users it may be especially disappointing to find that the Quick Launch toolbar has been removed from the Windows 7 Taskbar.

The Quick Launch bar has now been replaced with the concept of “Pinning” an icon to the taskbar. By dragging an icon to the taskbar in Windows 7 you will be presented with a menu item to “Pin to” taskbar.

Pinning an icon to to the taskbar will basically replicate the Quick Launch bar with some minor differences. First of which is that a pinned icon is not a static icon that allows you to click and open as many instances of the application as you like (useful in the case of your browser or file explorer window), rather once clicking on the icon it will expand to represent the opened window in the taskbar.. This can create confusion as your other icons may get shifted further to the right from where your eye traditionally expects to find it. Clicking again on this icon will either just minimize the application or select the window if in the background.

More Menu Options

The taskbar has become more useful, by right clicking the taskbar you are presented with a new menu of options from which you can quickly arrange your windows or start the Task Manager.

This quick reference allows you to quickly and easily arrange all of your open windows or to find your desktop.

Window Preview with Command Buttons

The Windows 7 Taskbar buttons, similar to Windows Vista, make it quick and easy to see a preview of the application window it represents. Hovering your mouse over the taskbar button you will be presented with a miniature preview of the window and not only. Windows 7 also will display command buttons on some relative applications allowing to perform simple tasks without opening the full window (useful for Windows Media Player as there is no longer the Windows Media Player Toolbar, this almost replicates the functionality from within the preview window). Computers that are not able to support the Aero graphical themes will not have the window preview, but will still have a pop-up menu item with a description and with the option to directly close the window.

Move your mouse over the preview window and the window will appear in full size and all other windows will become invisible until you move your mouse again away from the preview window. So far I find it to be a useful way to find the right window when you have a lot of applications open.

Better Button Grouping

I have never been fond of the button grouping for multiple instances of the same application, but it is useful when the taskbar gets completely full. Apparently Microsoft realized that and has now made this an option under the taskbar properties.

Additionally, the grouping experience has been improved. The grouped button icon has changed, illustrating that the button has multiple instances. Hovering your mouse over the button will provide the “Aero Peek” preview of each of the windows allowing you to quickly open the one you seek.

New Show Desktop Button

Afraid that with the lose of the Quick Launch bar you will no longer have the Show Desktop icon? Fortunately it hasn’t been removed, rather it just changed position. You will now find it hiding in the right hand bottom corner.

Want a quick peek at the desktop without having to close all your windows? Just hover your mouse over this button and all other windows will be invisible until you move your move away from the button.

Enhanced Graphical Effects

A new Windows release would not be the same without an onslaught of newly enhanced graphical effects; not overlooked were the taskbar buttons! Watch the color glow that follows the mouse as you move over each button. Notice that the color reflects the primary color of the icon of the button. Some of the graphical effects are also useful, such as the rolling color across the button to indicate that the specific application is still processing.

STOP: C000021a {Irreversible System Error} Windows logon process terminated unexpectedly with state (0×00000000 0×00000000). The system has been closed.

Unfortunately the timing of the virus definition release corresponded with the schedule of our weekly deep scan on all client PCs. As a result close to half the company found their PCs inaccessible the next morning upon starting-up their computers. We still have to determine why not all of the systems were affected; from our experience it appears to have only affected Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

Fortunately after getting in contact with VIPRE support we were able to confirm that the source of the issue was related to a False Positive error in the definition file 5474 and that file definition 5475 was already available with the correction. Unfortunately, VIPRE does not yet have an easy fix to the problem, however in a follow-up email to our support ticket they indicated that “have been working on developing a bootable ISO utility designed to unquarantine the files detected by the FP (false positive)”.

Until the bootable ISO is made available to release the quarantined file the following steps are necessary to make the system once again accessible:

1. Copy the winlogon.exe file from C:\windows\system32\ on a working Windows XP machine to either a floppy disk or burn to a CD-ROM

2. Boot the system from a Windows XP installation disk. Press “R” on the first screen that asks whether to install windows or to recover an existing Windows XP installation. This will open the Recovery Console

3. Select the Operating System that you will be recovering by pressing the corresponding number from the displayed list. Type the password for the local Administrator account.

4. Insert the CD-ROM or Floppy Disk and copy the winlogon.exe file to the C:\windows\system32\ directory. (ex: \\>copy d:\winlogon.exe c:\windows\system32\)

5. Reboot the pressing F8 on start-up to launch Windows in Safe Mode with Command Prompt

6. After Windows starts up login with the local Administrator account

7. Delete the virus definition files. To do so for VIPRE go to the definitions folder (C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\SBEAgent\Definitions\) and delete all the contents.

8. Reboot the system

Following this procedure we have been able to get all systems back up and running.

If you have experienced similar issues please leave a comment regarding your experience.

On May 19th and 20th there will be held the Web 3.0 Conference in New York City. The conference focuses on the semantic web (the thus far key component of Web 3.0), mashups, text and data analytics, and how they add real-world value to end users and businesses.

The last phase of the web, which has been referred to as Web 2.0, was more about AJAX-driven interactivity and social media. The Web 3.0 conference focuses on technologies that make the Web and data management substantially smarter. RWW

It will be interesting to see Web 3.0 begin to take shape and it’s various flavors of implementation.

Once again voting is underway for the 2009 CNet Webware 100 awards. This annual program is a great way to discover and help select the best web apps on the net. All the winners will be announced on May 19 so hurry to get your vote in while you can.

See the previous years’ winners: 2008 | 2007

The value of the site is significantly extended for iPhone users through their mobile applications:

EveryTrail
With this geotracking application, you can record your movements, take geotagged photos and immediately upload it all to EveryTrail, the leading online community for travel storytelling.

Trails
Trails allows you to record and to save your tracks to EveryTrail. In addition you can import any track from EveryTrail easily and view the route on the map directly on your iPhone.

The Bike Computer
The EveryTrail Bike Computer has a large screen that gives you key stats while riding your bike, and best of all, you can upload your ride directly from your phone to EveryTrail.

 Happy Trails!

The progression of web based applications continue to push the barrier between traditional software applications , those you purchase and install on your computer, and online applications or webware, those you can run from your browser. This progression continues to bring us ever closer to the web OS, allowing to run simple thin client devices with a web browser interface from which we can run all of our traditional software applications.

I have always considered the  Web OS theory to be limited to basic productivity applications,  but once again this is being challenged as we see image and photo editing web apps now becoming available with very sophisticated tools. Here are a couple web applications that I recently came across for this purpose:

• Aviary – Suite of tools including image editing and vector editing. From their website:

Aviary is a suite of powerful creative applications that you can use right in your web browser. We’re on a mission to make creation accessible to artists of all genres, from graphic design to audio editing. Use your account to create, share, and collaborate with our community of artists.

• Picnik – Simple and easy image editing tool. From their website:

Picnik is photo editing awesomeness, online, in your browser. It’s the easiest way on the Web to fix underexposed photos, remove red-eye, or apply effects to your photos. 

I still have yet to use either solution, but its exciting to see the creation of web based image editing applications. Please let me know if you have used these or other web based image editing apps and what you think of them.

Huge snowfalls at the start of this week have brought fantastic early-season conditions to ski resorts across Europe – with more to follow. Resorts in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Switzerland have reported falls of up to a metre in the past five days and more than 200 ski areas expect to be open this weekend. The Pyrenees are having their best start to the season for many years and Zermatt has more than 160km of piste open. – Snow-forecast.com

Here is a little taste of what the resorts here have to offer:

• Checked for errors in the Windows Update Log. The Windows Update Log can be found in the following paths:

• C:\Windows\Windows Update.log (Win XP & Win98/Me)
• C:\WINNT\Windows Update.log (Windows 2000)

Following these steps seemed to resolve the problem and hopefully this will be of benefit to others that run into the same issue.

*Another tip is not close the error windows that appear as that causes windows to freeze.

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Related Resources
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The actual tests of 350-001 as well as 640-822 and 70-236 can be attempted only if a student has already done 640-863 or 642-436.

• avoid sending email to a large number of recipients
• avoid attaching any file in mass mailings
• avoid using highly formatted text especially with colored headings.
• do not USE ‘ALL CAPS’ FOR MORE THAN THE OCCASIONAL WORD.
• do not use background graphics or logos.
• avoid using ’sales patter’ e.g. Hot Deal, Special Offer.
• avoid using ‘rude language’

University websites often provide useful information on the subject.

Specifically, people ask how many recipients to include with mass mailings, as spam filters could use this as a criteria. Unfortunately I have not found data on this, so I would love to hear your recommendations. What else do you do to avoid being marked as SPAM?

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Related Resources
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Most of the 642-825 and 642-845 students are more interested in doing 70-646 and EX0-101 than the basic 642-552.

On the continual look out for great new mobile apps to put on your Windows Mobile device? Here are a few recent apps that I have tried that you might like:

• TCPMP (The Core Pocket Media Player) – If you want a better media player that supports a broad range of audio and video files try this out. This player is free and can be downloaded here: http://picard.exceed.hu/tcpmp/test/
• Opera Mobile – Finally a decent web browser for your windows mobile device. So far I have been very impressed with its usability and page rendering even if it is still justa beta. Some features include full-screen zoomed browsing,  pan and zoom functionality, tabs, faster than Internet Explorer Mobile, AJAX support and a true web experience. You can download it here:  http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/download/
• Total Commander - Have you ever been frustrated with the limited ability of the windows file explorer? Here is a free program that lets you choose between single window or 2-window modes. It is an excellent file browser, with a ton of extra features, including an FTP client, registry editor, and the ability to save and view .zip files. Get it here: http://www.ghisler.com/ce.htm

If you are looking for more great recommendations for Windows Mobile apps try these:

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2006/11/21/5-windows-mobile-freeware-programs-im-thankful-for/

http://lifehacker.com/5041023/the-best-free-apps-for-your-windows-mobile-device

If you have a favorite Windows Mobile application let me know about it by adding a comment.

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Writing 70-271 and VCP-310 becomes easier for a 640-802 student if he has achieved credits like 70-290 and 70-270 already.