PC Memoirs

It’s official. Since Tuesday, 5 May 2009, Windows 7 Release Candidate is available for download for free. At first only MSDN and Technet subscribers were able to download their copy, but now everyone can get the most recent version of Windows 7 and use it for testing. It is the latest test version of the new Windows system and pretty close to the final version which will be released later this year or early next year.

After reading some early reviews of the Windows 7 Beta version earlier this year, I can say it looks like a promising system. Microsoft has introduced many quality and compatibility improvements, designed to replace its inferior predecessor, Windows Vista. Many PC users complained about problems with Windows Vista and it was to expect that this time, Microsoft would produce a much better system. That system is Windows 7.

Windows 7 enjoys early industry support, as over 10 000 companies have signed up for tools and resources needed to prepare their products for Windows 7; for example, Asus already makes motherboards that support Windows 7.  The reviews are pretty good so far and expectations are high. I think this could be the best Windows yet!

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I have recently found out that many PC users have experienced the error with the graphic card driver nv4_disp.dll, and unfortunately, I’m one of them.

This is what happened: my screen worked normally for a while before the Blue Screen of Death appeared, showing some kind of error. I was only able to see the name of the file nv4_disp, which led me to believe it was an Nvidia driver problem. I could only restart the PC and sometimes the problem went away, but it came back later. Before that, sometimes my screen used to black out and I had to force shutdown.

Now, the obvious thing would be to try and boot in Safe Mode and reinstall the driver for the nvidia graphic card. If you want to try this, it would be best to go to the Nvidia Web site and download the latest driver for your video card model and leave it on the desktop. Next, reboot the system in Safe Mode (press and hold F8 after reboot) and go to Control Panel, System and Device Manager. Under Display Adapter, there should be the name and model of your video card. Right click on it and uninstall the device from your system. Reboot the system again, this time normally, and when Windows picks up the new hardware device, simply double click on the installation file you prepared earlier and install the new driver. This solves the problem in most cases.

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According to a leaked page on the Microsoft Partner Program Web site, Windows 7 Release Candidate will be available as early as 5. May this year. Apparently, the page was scheduled to be published in May but it was mistakenly published last weekend. It was quickly taken down after it appeared online.

It looks as though Windows 7 might be nearing its development and testing stages and after a successsful beta release earlier this year and following mostly positive reviews, PC users across the world are eagerly awaiting the more stable successor to Windows Vista.

Even if the rumour is not true, this is the second time that a leaked press release has mentioned the Windows 7 Release Candidate. Microsoft probably want to get out the final Windows 7 version as soon as possible to compensate for bad hype surrounding its current operating system (Windows Vista) and falling sales and profits. Then again, they won’t release and unfinished or untested product. After all, the software needs to meet the quality bar for the release. However, Microsoft has admitted that PC makers such as Dell and HP have already received the Release Candidate to test with their PCs.

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Are you asking yourself where all the free space on your hard drive has gone when you don’t even have that many (big) files? Do you want to free up space but you don’t know how or what to delete? If yes, then it’s time to investigate and find out what’s taking up the space and figure out a way to free it up for new files.

So, what can you do?

Firstly, you should know that some space is reserved for System Restore, and you can find out how much by going into System Properties (Control Panel, System), selecting your local drive and clicking on Settings. You will see how much space (in GB and percent) has been reserved for this purpose. You can adjust this but don’t turn off this option or you may regret it later. If you need more space, just move the slider to the left a bit.

Sometimes, your space is taken up by hidden files. This can be either a swapfile (pagefile.sys) or hiberfil.sys, a file used in laptops for hibernation. They can take up to 1GB each. Your hard drive can also have a hidden partition with Windows installation files or recovery programs, set up by the manufacturer of your PC.

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All of us have or will at some point come across this problem: how to restore or recover files that we accidentally deleted from the PC? Sometimes it’s not even an accidental loss. Maybe we deleted something on purpose and realized later that we want the file back, but it’s too late. Or is it?

There are ways to find files that have been lost or deleted and you don’t have to be an IT expert to do this. Of course it helps if you have advanced computer knowledge. You can try some easy ways to recover files before you move on to more advanced options (which involve installing and running third party software).

Warning: if your hard drive is making noises and you are unable to load Windows from that hard drive, don’t try the following solutions. Instead, take it out and connect the drive to another PC and try to access your files from there. It’s most likely damaged and only professional (and expensive) help will solve your problem.

Let’s try the easy options first: When you first delete documents/files, they usually go directly into the recycle bin and stay there until you empty it. If you open the recycle bin first, you may find your files. If they are there simply right click on each file and select Restore. They will go back to their original location.

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