If you’re one of the many who took the leap to try Windows 7 for free when it was in the RC stage, then you have found many things different between this OS and Vista. Many changes mean many new tweaking opportunities. Windows 7 Manager has come out on top for me, allowing me to tweak and customize Win7 in every way I could want.

If you’re an Asus laptop user like me, then you will find the customization of the OEM info necessary to install your Asus-specific software like DirectConsole and SmartLogon. There’s a screenshot where you enter that information below.

---

Here’s the official description from YamicSoft’s site:

Why Should I use Windows 7 Manager?

Windows 7 is the newest Operating System for home users and professionals alike. Windows 7 brings clarity to your world, so you can more safely and easily accomplish everyday tasks and instantly find what you want on your PC.

Windows 7 Manager is the powerful software tool to tweak and optimize your Windows 7, it bundles more than 30 different utilities in one and help your system faster and more stable, secure and personal!
Features and Benefits of Windows 7 Manager

• Information
  Get detailed system and all hardware information on your system; show all detailed information of running processes and threads on your machine; Windows 7 Manager offers 1-clicking cleans your system automatically.




• Optimizer
  Tweak your system to improve windows startup and shutdown speed; tweak your hardware to increase system speed and performance; Optimize Task Schedule to turn off unnecessary system tasks.




• Cleaner
  Find out which files or folders engross your disk space and shown with chart; Find and clean junk files to increase Hard Disk space; Duplicate Files Finder can scan your computer for files with the same size, name and modification time; Registry Cleaner can easily checks your registry and repair incorrectly linked registry entries, automatically remove invalid entries; Registry Defrag rebuilds and re-indexs your registry to reduce application response time and registry access time.




• Customization
  Control what is started on Windows startup; tune up Windows 7 boot menu; edit context menus of mouse Right-Clicking; customize system desktop, menus, toolbar and notifications settings; automatically change your desktop wallpaper on background.




• Security
  You can improve desktop, menus, Windows logon securities, and enable numerous hidden performance options of system, disable system updates and error reports; hide and restrict to access drives, specify which applications are not allowed to be executed on your computer; encrypt/decrypt and shred files, change the location of system folders; Privacy Protector can maintain your personal privacy by eliminating the tracks that you leave behind; create lots of randomization password once.




• Network
  Optimize your Internet connection speed, manage all shares items; tweak your Internet Explorer easily.




• Misc. Utilities
  Show the collection of Windows utilities; help you find out the installation key of Windows, Office products; shutdown your PC or remind you automatically.

---

Screenshots

---

Downloads

*Since Windows 7 is officially still in the pre-release stage, Windows 7 Manager is also in it’s Beta stage. This means you can download it for free until Win7 becomes officially released to the public. After Win7 is released, expect to pay for this program.

---

Tags: asus g50v and windows 7, Windows 7

*UPDATED: July 14, 2009 – The “unofficial” RTM build 7600 leaked yesterday and I jumped on that stuff. I installed it from a 8GB flash drive, and everything went perfectly. When you get to the part where it asks for a serial number, just click next to complete installation without a serial. If you want to crack the activation limit of 30 days, then you torrent freaks need to visit Demonoid for it. The activation patch will say Windows is activated without any time limit. As for the Asus apps for the G50, they all work the same as other Win7 RC builds before this one.*

---

Since the Release Candidate (RC1) for Windows 7 was made public, I figured I’d test it myself on my Asus G50V. The build I tested was RC 7100.

The install was quick, much faster than the days of the 1-hour XP installation. When it was finished, it booted to the desktop with high speed. The first thing I had to do was see which drivers it didn’t install automatically. This is where I was surprised the most.

Looking at the Device Manager (Right-click on Computer, choose Manage, on left side of new window go to Device Manager), all I found was 7 missing drivers. Those missing were the Ricoh Memory Card drivers, ITE Infrared Receiver, nVidia High Def Audio, and of course the video card (nVidia GeForce 9700m GT).

Microsoft caused my jaw to drop at the discovery of my Wireless Card (Atheros AR 928x), even though the card is quite common. After the install finished, I was asked if I wanted to join my wireless network. No other Windows version did THAT! About time.

Here are the drivers you will need to fill those empty spaces in your Device Manager that are filled with exclamation points.

*Note: The Vista drivers that came on your G50V Driver Disc work just fine, except for the video card.

1. Ricoh Memory Card Reader – 3.4 MB
2. ITE Infrared Receiver – 5.1 MB
3a. nVidia GeForce 9700m GT – x64 64-bit – 63.2 MB
3b. nVidia GeForce 9700m GT – x86 32-bit – 53.9 MB

*Note: The video card drivers will also install the nVidia High Def Audio drivers.

Leave a comment if you need help with getting these installed properly. If there are more drivers you need, see this post: Asus G50 Driver Files

---

Tags: asus g50 drivers, asus g50v and windows 7

I was recently reinstalling Windows to my laptop, which happens a lot with the amount of software I test. I probably reinstall every 4 to 6 months, depending on how mucked up my system gets from using cracks and key generators. Since I do this so often, I imagined a better way of updating Windows after a fresh install than to lock up my internet for many hours while Windows Update does it’s thing. Not to mention, I also have to endure the multiple reboots between major releases.

Then yesterday I took to Google and found a piece of software that will download all of the recent updates to a folder, which can then be installed offline without any waiting for the download process, especially if the connection is slow. For PC techs like me, this is great. In so many instances, I wish I had a way to update Windows by simply running a program that will install everything all at once.

Then I found c’t Offline Update. It’s a simple command prompt-driven batch process that allows you to choose the operating systems (2000, XP 32- & 64-bit, 2003, Vista 32- & 64-bit), the languages (24 of them with 32-bit), and then will also compile an ISO file from all of the updates so you can burn them to a CD/DVD. Not only does it allow you to grab updates for Windows OSes, but also for Office 2000, XP, 2003, and 2007 and the 24 languages for those as well.

I would offer the download here on PCLove, but being that this software is important to keep up to date, you’ll just have to grab it from the source this time.

Again, here’s the link.

Here’s a couple of screenshots.

This is the program window where you choose which OS or Office suite and the language.



This is the command prompt window where the updates are downloading.

Tags: reinstall windows, update windows offline

One of the most asked questions from the people I know is “Which Antivirus/Firewall is the best to use?” My answer is always another question. Some people think “best” means that it is the most powerful. Others think “best” is the easiest to use.

It’s very true that not all antivirus and firewalls are the same. Some companies spend their money and time on developing a great product, while others that have been in the market for a while focus their resources on preventing people from jacking their software, i.e. Symantec/Norton, McAfee, and others. Another important thing to look at is the support a company provides for their product. Some use tech centers based in the US and others outsource to foreign countries. Personally, I don’t want to have to struggle to talk with tech support because I don’t understand their Indian or Philippine version of English.

One more thing to bring up is how easy a program is to uninstall. Some clean themselves out of your system without any issue. Norton, for example, leaves all kinds of traces in your system after you uninstall it. Norton themselves even created a separate program to remove all of those traces. Why not just build that into the uninstaller? No idea.

With Antivirus programs, here are the important things to me:

1. Frequency of Updates
2. Quality of Malware Detection – You don’t want your antivirus flagging valid programs or files and quarantining them.
3. Speed of Scan – Most AV programs can take many hours to scan the commonly large hard drives that we occupy our files with.

With Firewalls, my demands are a bit more stringent:

1. Easily Navigable Interface
2. Levels of Firewall Protection
3. A window that shows me which programs are allowed for access and which are not.
4. Strict Ad Blocking
5. Website & Content Filtering
6. Notification of EVERY program that wants internet access.

As a PC Tech, I’ve tested all the major antivirus and firewall programs extensively. With most, I uninstalled them shortly after forming my opinion. Only 3 stood the test of time: Agnitum Outpost Security Suite, Zone Alarm Suite, and ESET Smart Security.

Agnitum’s Outpost Suite is highly effective at keeping your PC safe, but the interface is difficult to browse and quickly find what you need to find.

Zone Alarm has been my favorite for many years, but with the recent addition of their 64-bit version, I had many problems and conflicts in my system that had me rebooting at least twice per day. I imagine they will fix those errors, but I can’t just wait around to secure my laptop.

ESET Smart Security Suite offers a complete package of security utilities. And you can choose between Standard or Advanced Modes, which works for both advanced users and those who just want it to work.

If you want to give ESET Smart Security a try, I have a solution where you can test the fully-functional version for an unlimited amount of time.

All you have to do is download the proper version for your operating system, i.e. 32- or 64-bit, then visit the website below for your serial. Simple.

Installation Directions:

1. Extract the install files from the ZIP.
2. Double-click the .msi file to run the installer.
3. When install is complete, visit http://www.nod32sky.com/ and grab one of the usernames and passwords for the day.
4. Open the ESET console and click on “Setup” on the left panel.
5. In the main window, look for “Set up Username and Password for update…” and enter the username and password from the site above.
6. You can either wait for the program to autoupdate or you can go to the Update tab and click on “Update virus signature database” to get it kicking. This will update your virus signatures as well as the program files for making your trial version into the full one.

If the program tells you that your username or password are invalid or are about to expire, just visit http://www.nod32sky.com/ for a new one.

---

Tags: antivirus & firewall, eset smart security

Warning: filesize() [function.filesize]: stat failed for wp-content/uploads/Spotmau_PowerSuite_2009.zip in /home/desig111/public_html/pclove/wp-content/plugins/subzane-visual-download.php on line 21

I wanted to feature this piece of software on this site, because it’s one of the best, most useful set of tools that I’ve ever seen as a PC Tech. When they called it PowerSuite, they really meant it. Aside from the many tasks it performs, the fact that you can install it AND boot from it when burned to a disc makes it stand out from the rest of the so-called “power utilities”.

The thing that attracted my attention to test the software was the ability to reset your Windows password if you boot from the CD. This is extremely handy as well as risky. All you have to do is boot the CD, then change the password or blank it out so there is none. I definitely wouldn’t want everyone to know about this since I use Windows, but for you snoopy people and hackers, Spotmau makes it simple. Of course I don’t condone the infiltration of someone else’s Windows account, but who am I to tell you what to do? Exactly.

---

Official Description:

Spotmau PowerSuite 2009 is a powerful toolkit providing all essential utilities for home PC owners. It can solve most PC problems for a home user. Spotmau PowerSuite 2009 includes many useful tools for your PC:

• Windows Recovery provides a complete solution to recover your corrupt Windows such as partition table recovery, lost/missing files recovery and so on.
• Windows Doctor (Windows Speedup, Smart Uninstall, IE Manager, Startup Manager) provides Step by Step Guide to speedup your PC. Remove your unwanted applications; restore default settings of your Internet Explorer; enable you to choose which programs to run automatically at Windows startup; change your desktop icon and right click menu.
• Password & Key Finder finds your lost passwords for Email, MSN, IE and asterisks; finds your Windows, Office and IE product or CD keys.
• Windows Admin/User Password Recovery can easily reset Windows Vista/2003/XP/2000/NT administrator/user password to blank or change the password.
• BIOS/CMOS Password Recovery helps you instantly find or clear your computer’s BIOS/CMOS Password.
• Clean up History clears up all your activity records on your computer to protect your privacy.
• Data Transfer can be used to backup your personal data before Windows reinstallation. It can transfer files to the removable media/devices, or to a second, undamaged internal hard disk when your Windows has crashed or the hard disk has been damaged.
• File Shredder deletes files and folders permanently from your hard disk.
• Disk Clone & Backup package provides all kinds of clone options under Windows: Disk to Disk, Disk to Image, Disk from Image, Partition to Partition, Partition to Image, Partition from Image. You can easily backup disks/partitions or transfer all data from one disk to another, or even burn to CD/DVD, with several mouse clicks. This utility is for cloning Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista. It supports IDE, SATA, SCSI, and USB interfaces.
• Desktop Secretary easily manages your daily duties and business schedules.

Emergency Rescue: Lifesaver when Windows Crashes or Hard Drive Fails!

• Boot up ANY computer
• Rescue crashed Windows and data
• Recover deleted, formatted, or crashed data
• Repair Windows errors and missing file problems

Hard Disk Maintenance: Technician’s Dream Toolset & Easy for a PC beginner!

• Clone and backup system and data
• Partition and format hard drive
• Recover deleted, formatted, or crashed data

PC Tune-up: Return you a smooth computer as “fresh” as the first time!

• Optimize and boost Windows performance
• Repair registry problems and Windows errors
• Eliminate Windows freeze and hang
• Remove stubborn and ghost programs
• Clean up obsolete debris and trace files
• Speedup Windows startup time
• Optimize internet speed

Privacy Protection: 360° privacy protection gives you peace of mind!

• Unbreakable “Personal Safe” to store confidential data
• Clean up activity tracks on computer
• Hide and encrypt sensitive data over transmission
• Shred secret data permanently
• Find lost passwords and product keys

Installation Directions:

---

*Important!
The provided serial number may have been blacklisted due to bootlegging. This gives you 2 options:
A: If you install to Windows, use a software firewall and deny Spotmau access to the internet and once installed, turn off the updates.
B: Only use the CD to boot from. It won’t even ask for the serial.

---

1. Extract the contents from the ZIP file. This will leave you with the ISO image and the Readme file.
2. Peruse the Readme text file you just extracted. It contains basic info as well as the serial number if you choose to install the program.
3. Burn the ISO file with a decent burning program like Nero, Easy CD Creator, etc. or an ISO file manager like UltraISO or PowerISO.
4. Now you can either install it into Windows or boot from the CD or both. Some of the utilities can only be used when booted from the CD (like resetting the Windows password).
5. If installing to Windows, use the serial located in the Readme file when prompted.

Tags: recover windows password, repair windows, spotmau

Many people purchase their computers from a manufacturer such as HP, Sony, Dell, etc. and their operating system is preinstalled with Windows Vista. This means that you normally do NOT get an installation disc. Your manufacturer often gives you a restore disc which may be just an image of your hard drive after the OS was installed.
The problem with this is if you need to fix a boot issue, there is no way for you to boot from your restore disc just to fix that issue. With the restore disc, it will only allow you to restore the hard drive to it’s factory condition, meaning everything you had will be lost.

No matter where you got your desktop or laptop, the recovery disc will be a great asset to you in the event your computer won’t boot. The disc is chock full of utilities that you will need to get your system up and running again.

Directions:

1. Extract the ZIP file. You will see an ISO file. This is the image of the Disc.
2. Burn the ISO file. There are many programs you can use, but make sure you burn it at a slow speed such as 1x-10x.
3. Place the CD in your disc drive and reboot.
4. You either have to go into your BIOS and choose your CD drive to be the first boot device or you can press the ESC key at bootup which will open a window that allows you to choose your boot device manually. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. For me, it works about 75%. Changing the boot order in the BIOS always works.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to accomplish what you want to fix.

Tags: vista recovery disc

Cool little tool to locate the manufacturer’s suggested driver for your video card. I personally never use nVidia’s official drivers. I always get my video card updates at laptopvideo2go.com.

Tags: nvidia driver locator tool

These are all of the most recent drivers posted on asus.com.tw as well as other hardware manufacturers’ sites. Each file will be marked as to where it comes from.
I omitted the Video drivers for the GeForce 9700m GT. They change constantly, so I will provide the links to each file located at laptopvideo2go.com, along with my results from testing each driver.

These are the drivers for Vista x86 & x64. I will soon add the XP drivers to the list once I finish compiling the package.

---

BIOS – ROMs and Flasher Utility

BIOS ROM v213 – 735 KB – Solve ODD can’t be detected under DOS. (May 4, 2009)
BIOS ROM v210 – 734 KB – Solved bug that HDD password can’t set when there are 2 HDDs. (January 19, 2009)
BIOS ROM v209 – 717 KB – Solved the bug of the CPU speed full run issue. (November 24, 2008)
BIOS ROM v207 – 716 KB – Firmware Update (October 30, 2008)
WinFlash – 1.2 MB – BIOS Flashing Tool

---

VIDEO DRIVERS – nVidia GeForce 9700m GT

New in Release 186.03:
*Many Optimizations for GPU Performance & Many Bug Fixes – To see the specific release notes, scroll down on nVidia’s download page.

Windows 7 x64 – Latest: 186.03 – June 9, 2009 – WHQL Certified Driver
Windows 7 x86 – Latest: 186.03 – June 9, 2009 – WHQL Certified Driver

Vista x64 – Latest: 186.03 – June 9, 2009 – WHQL Certified Driver
Vista x86 – Latest: 186.03 – June 9, 2009 – WHQL Certified Driver

XP x64 – Latest: 185.85 – May 7, 2009 – WHQL Certified Driver
XP x86 – Latest: 185.68 – May 7, 2009 – WHQL Certified Driver

---

DRIVERS – Vista x86 & x64 ONLY

01. Intel Motherboard INF Update – 2.1 MB – Required
02. ATK Hotkey – 2.2 MB – Required
03. ATK Media – 1 MB – Required
04. ATK OSD – 7.2 MB – Required
05. AGFNEX – 2 MB – Required
06. Realtek HD Audio – 53.8 MB – Required
07. Wireless Console – 4.1 MB – Required
08. Atheros WLAN – 28.9 MB – Dependent Upon Hardware
09. Intel WLAN – 36.8 MB – Dependent Upon Hardware
10. Bluetooth BT250 – 57.2 MB – Dependent Upon Hardware
11. Ricoh Card Reader – 3.4 MB – Required
12. TV Tuner Yuan MC570 – 4.3 MB – Dependent Upon Hardware
13. TV Tuner Yuan MC872-1D – .4 MB – Dependent Upon Hardware
14. Modem – .7 MB – Optional
15. ITE Remote – 5.1 MB – Dependent Upon Hardware
16. ATK 0100 – .2 MB – Required
17. KB Filter – .2 MB – Required

---

UTILITIES – Software Solely for Asus Notebooks

01. Turbo Memory – 25.8 MB – RAM Memory Booster
02. Splendid – 15.8 MB – Video Enhancement
03. Power 4 Gear eXtreme – 10.7 MB – Power Profile Manager
04. Smart Logon – 6.4 MB – Log into Windows only with Your webcam!
05. Direct Console – 3.8 MB – Controls the OLED screen above the keyboard.
06. NB Probe – 2 MB – Monitors Motherboard Activity (temps, fan speeds, etc.)
07. Virtual Cam – 1.7 MB – (Totally Useless)
08. Copy Protect – 8.9 MB – Helps protect…aww, I really have no idea what it does.
09. Life Frame 3 – 19.7 MB – (Totally Useless)
10. MultiFrame – 2.9 MB – (Totally Useless)
11. Asus Data Security Manager – 5.3 MB – Data Backup Manager
12. Express Gate – 158 MB – Bootable Linux OS that allows you to play media or browse the internet without fully booting your laptop.

---

MANUALS – PDF User Manuals

You will need a PDF reader to view the following files.
I’d recommend using Foxit PDF Reader instead of Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can find it on the Software Page.

1. Asus G50 Manual – 16.5 MB
2. Asus Express Gate Manual – .7 MB

---

Tags: asus g50 drivers, asus g50v

This is the driver disc for the Asus G50V laptop line. These drivers were made for Vista OSes only. If you try to use them for XP, you will fail.

I removed 2 things from the original disc – Norton Internet Security Trial & Adobe Reader. I don’t believe in either for their uses (and their removal made the ISO smaller by 300 MB!)

I’m not sure if this will work for other G50s, but my guess is that many series’ have similar hardware.

---

Extracting & Installing:

1. These files are compressed with ZIP & 7-Zip. You will need 7-Zip or WinRar or similar to extract the files and the ISO image. You can find a copy of 7-Zip on our Software Page.
2. Extract the ZIP file, which will give you 6 7-Zip files that end with .001, .002, etc. The 6 files need also to be extracted, which will give you an ISO file. This is the image of the driver disc.
3. Next, you can either extract the ISO itself with WinRar or other ISO file manager or you can mount the ISO if you know how to do that. You can also burn the disc with any burning software. I personally use Nero Burning ROM.
4. Once extracted or mounted, you can install each driver or application individually or you can run setup.exe in the root of the extracted folder or the mounted drive to begin the automated setup.

---

Tags: asus g50 drivers, g50 driver disc, g50 driver iso

Warning: filesize() [function.filesize]: stat failed for wp-content/uploads/Treo/drvupdate-x86.exe in /home/desig111/public_html/pclove/wp-content/plugins/subzane-visual-download.php on line 21

Warning: filesize() [function.filesize]: stat failed for wp-content/uploads/Treo/drvupdate-amd64.exe in /home/desig111/public_html/pclove/wp-content/plugins/subzane-visual-download.php on line 21

This new version of the Windows Mobile Device Center contains key improvements and new features to support Windows Mobile 6 devices.

The Windows Mobile Device Center:

• Combines an efficient business-data synchronization platform with a compelling user experience.
• Enables you to set up new partnerships, synchronize content and manage music, pictures and video with Windows Mobile powered devices (Windows Mobile 2003 or later).
• Helps you to synchronize business-critical information such as e-mail, contacts and calendar appointments, easily manage your synchronization settings, and transfer business documents between your device and PC.

*The Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 is only supported on Windows Vista 32- and 64-bit.

I have mirrored these 2 specific files for English, as it’s my native language. If you would like the WMDC in another language, visit Microsoft’s Windows Mobile site to see all 24 languages:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/help/synchronize/device-center.mspx#download

Installation Instructions:
To install the Windows Mobile Device Center on Windows Vista:

1. Read the system requirements listed below.
2. Connect your device to your PC.
3. Download the Windows Mobile Device Center Installer to your PC by clicking on the download link.
4. Select Run this program from its current location and click OK.
5. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Please note: Your device must be connected to your PC for the Windows Mobile Device Center to launch after installation.

System Requirements:
Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 is currently only available for the following versions of Microsoft Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit).

• Windows Vista Ultimate
• Windows Vista Enterprise
• Windows Vista Business
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Windows Vista Home Basic
• Windows Vista Server “Longhorn”

Microsoft Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Outlook 2007 messaging and collaboration clients are required for synchronization of e-mail, contacts, tasks and notes to a Personal Computer.

Supported Devices:

• Windows Mobile 2003
• Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition
• Windows Mobile 5.0
• Windows Mobile 5.0 with Messaging and Security Feature Pack
• Windows Mobile 6
• Windows Embedded CE 6.0

---

Tags: windows mobile device center, wmdc