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12 hours ago
New driver update utility Device Doctor finds outdated drivers on your PC, and helps you download the latest version—without charging you a dime. Using the utility, which can be installed or used as a portable application, is about as easy as it gets—just click the Begin Scan button, wait a couple of seconds, and you will be shown a list of drivers that can be updated. The download button for each driver will take you to their web site, where you can download the drivers for free, without signing up for anything at all. Most of the drivers come with setup programs, but some of them are nothing more than zip files, and would need to be installed manually—hopefully something they can improve on in the future. During our testing, we used the application on half a dozen PCs, and had varied results—on our XP test system, Device Doctor worked well and accurately found new drivers, but for Windows 7 we didn't have as much luck, with a few incorrect drivers being thrown at us. That ...8 days ago
While Microsoft Security Essentials has gotten mostly glowing reviews so far, some users are still hesitant to install it. One thing holding up some users is Windows Update. You can't update your Security Essentials definitions automatically if the Windows Update service is disabled. And while keeping your system fully patched is a necessity, not everyone wants to allow Windows to do it for them - they prefer the going manual route. Fortunately, Microsoft knows this. After all, Security Essentials is based on Forefront - their enterprise antivirus product. And in the enterprise it's common practice to install updates manually. To that end, Security Essentials definitions can be downloaded as a standalone executable from Microsoft. They're available from the Malware Protection Center where you'll also find the current defs for Forefront and Defender. Download the .exe yourself, run it, and your Security Essentials is up-to-date! Better yet, set up an app like Ketarin ...28 days ago
One of the most requested features for Google Maps Mobile was to add turn-by-turn navigation. In the past, this wasn't possible because of the licensing fees that had to be paid for each user of the navigation system. Now that Google no longer uses data from TeleAtlas in the US, turn-by-turn navigation can be added for free. Google's blog announces that Google Maps Navigation will be available in Android 2.0. The first mobile phone that comes with Android 2.0 is Motorola Droid. "This new feature comes with everything you'd expect to find in a GPS navigation system, like 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting. But unlike most navigation systems, Google Maps Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of your phone's Internet connection." And unlike other navigation systems, it's free. For now, Google Maps Navigation is only available for the US, but it will certainly be available in other countries when Google ...34 days ago
Psystar, the Miami-based PC manufacturer that’s still in a protracted legal battle with Apple over selling PCs that come pre-installed with Mac OS X, has begun offering Rebel EFI – software that lets any generic PC run Mac OS X. It costs $90, though Psystar is selling it for $50. The software lets PCs equipped with Intel Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, i7 or Xeon Nehalem CPUs to run Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard.” A limited-function demo is available for download from Psystar’s Web site. Psystar reportedly is starting an approval program that will vet specific PC components to work with their software. “The most common hardware set-ups are compatible, and through PsyLabs we will continue to work toward the Rebel EFI supporting an ever-broader range of hardware profiles,” reads a statement. In related news, Psystar notes that Rebel EFI works with Microsoft’s newly-released Windows 7 operating system. Features: DUBL: The Darwin Universal Boot Loader allows ...48 days ago
Windows Virtual PC, Virtual Box and VMware Workstation are some popular applications that allow you to create new virtual machines on a Windows PC but the only problem with these programs is that they require you do everything from scratch. Microsoft’s Sysinternals team has released a simple application called Disk2vhd, that lets you easily migrate an existing computer to a virtualized hard drive (VHD). It’s a tiny utility doesn’t even require instillation. When you run Disk2vhd, it will immediately show you all the drives and partitions on your computer that it can migrate to a VHD. Simply select a drive that you wish to create a VHD file from and click “Create.” Disk2vhd will convert the hard drive into a VHD file even if the computer /drive is currently in use. When the Virtual Machine VHD file is created, you can run it in any desktop virtualization program including the free Windows Virtual PC, Virtual Box, or VMware Player. You can also mount the virtual ...
