Info

You are currently browsing the archives for the Windows 7 category.

Calendar
February 2012
S M T W T F S
« Nov    
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
26272829  

Archive for the Windows 7 Category

Be careful what you put on your desktop

I recently encountered some mysterious behaviour in Windows 7 (Home Premium 32-bit). Immediately after logging in (usually right after a reboot), the system would become almost completely non-responsive for about 15 minutes. And just as mysteriously, it would then return to normal until the next time I logged in, which could be several days later. What the heck was going on? Was this a Windows bug or something I had done? In fact, it was both…read on to find out the surprising solution!

Read the rest of this entry »

How to make MagicJack work on a server

We use a MagicJack USB dongle for long-distance telephone calls over our Internet connection. The price is hard to beat and the unit works amazingly well most of the time. We have a cordless telephone base unit connected to the USB dongle and the handsets can be used throughout the house and deck. Provided of course that the MagicJack software is running.

MagicJack does not operate as a Windows service. It needs its application to be running under a logged-in Windows user. Initially, I had the USB dongle plugged into my desktop workstation. But since I often reboot or run heavy CPU applications, my workstation was not the best place for running the MagicJack.

Recently, I set up another computer on our network as a file server and I also wanted it to host the MagicJack instead of my workstation. This server would run Windows 7 and it would be headless (i.e. not have a monitor, keyboard or mouse of its own). To manage the server, I would log into it using Windows Remote Desktop Connection . The question was: could I get MagicJack to operate in this evironment?

In my initial attempts, the MagicJack software kept crapping out, but…

Read the rest of this entry »

Sony Ericsson PC Suite and Windows 7

I am a big fan of Windows 7. I am running Windows 7 RC on three different machines now and I am very pleased with the new user interface and greatly improved performance. I will have other posts on my Windows 7 experiences later.

But for now, I just wanted to report that Sony Ericsson PC Suite version 6.007.00 is working fine under Windows 7 RC 32-bit on my Thinkpad T61p. Using the proprietary USB cable, PC Suite can hot-sync my Z710i with Outlook 2007 quickly and consistently.

Hot-syncing the Z710i over Bluetooth is a completely different matter. It is inconsistent, slow and a royal pain to getting working at all, which is very disappointing because I would prefer to use fewer cables. Given the amount of time that Bluetooth has been around, I am amazed that this is still so difficult to get working. If anyone has found the magic method, please let me know.

Cheers!

Brad

|