Microsoft do release some specific drivers for lots of hardware with each version of Windows. With every new release of Windows, you will get more and more drivers part of that repository. So when you do install a new (or fresh) copy of Windows, you will have installed some generic drivers for all your hardware. But your best choice is always to use the driver package coming with the hardware, this way you will get the best performance. Be aware that the device might not work even if you do not install the driver coming with the hardware package. This site Dell Laptop Drivers has lots of drivers for laptops.

If you lost the CD from a particular device driver, you can do the following steps (or just one):

· A first option is to search the device drivers vendor’s website for the driver you do need for your particular operating system.
· Use a device driver detecting software which will detect the required drivers for your device, download them and install them automatically.
· Look for Device Manager (this is a service part of your Windows): it will look online for any drivers you might need and will install them.
· Find yourself (manually) those drivers over the Internet.

If a device driver you do need cannot be found then check directly with the device vendor. They will either give you the component driver you do need, or as a last option, they will contact you whenever that driver becomes available. Remember that it is very important for Windows to have the right driver for a given hardware, so you can get the best from your system.

To compare those Registry Cleaners between each others, you have to take into account how fast are they when it comes to the scanning process. Anyone going to use a Registry Cleaner to search for problems on their PC wants but to use a fast application. Another thing to consider is how many errors a given Registry Cleaner can find during a scan. You should consider that the more errors a Registry Cleaner can find: it is then a better application. Many times such an application will have several and different options. Check each of them to learn if they can help you or not really. Be sure to know what version of Windows is installed on the PC you want to fix. Because those products don’t have the same functionnabilities between each Windows version. Here Registry Cleaner Review you will find Registry Cleaners reviews.

If you’re like the common computer user, you simply don’t have the time and resources to use all those programs to compare them to each others. So double-check all those websites full of reviews about those Registry Cleaners. There are many specialized web pages and forums where registry cleaners’ users posted their impressions as well as lists of the best applications to be used. After you did select a program and you did use it successfully, you can also comment on those forums about how great such a program is. You will thus help others users in their own search.

Most computers running Windows XP do not have a password set for the concealed director account that’s's accessible only in safe mode.  You can get access to safe mode by pressing the F8 key right after the initial screen, infrequently know as the BIOS screen. Windows gives an inventory of options after the F8 key is pressed.  Select the “Safe Mode” option and press Enter. Log on the account called “administrator” and open control panel. Navigate to the user account applet and click the user account with the forgotten password. Click “remove password” and the account will be password free.  This only works when there’s not any password set on the concealed director account.  This method works only in Windows XP. The hid director account isn’t accessible through safe mode in Windows Vista.  3rd party tools have been developed that help you reset your Windows password. My private favorite is “Active Password Changer”. The software finds the registry key that contains your Windows passwords and gives you the choice to get rid of the password from any user account.

Likewise, the software works for just about every version of Windows out there both 32-bit and 64-bit. It has both DOS and Windows versions.  I like the Windows version since it uses a easy graphical interface and it’s a lot simpler to use than the DOS version.  It isn’t great to have a password that’s's too tough to recollect ; nor, is it a great idea for a computer user to start writing down a password, or have a password that may straightforward be identified, taken and then utilised by someone else.  There’s a way to not forget login information and that is’s by coming up with one that will simply be recalled by the user.

First Things First

We covered everything we could in Gizmodo‘s official eight-chapter mega-guide, so hit that up first. It’s a hearty first course, and it’s got everything you need to know—what’s new from Vista, why it’s worth the upgrade, and how to get started with it. Or as we put it then:

Here’s everything of value that we learned about Win 7, packed in a complete, easy-to-read guide.

But leave plenty of room—there’s a wide world of other Windows 7 guides out there to plow through. Here are the best, linked and previewed for your perusal.

Finding Your Feet

• Eminent Windows nerdthusiast Paul Thurrott answers the broader Windows 7 questions like it ain’t no thang, y’all:

Microsoft says that Windows 7 is the “seventh” major Windows version, which it isn’t, but whatever. Adding to the mystery, the Windows 7 version number will actually be 6.1, the same as Windows Server 2008 R2.

This will come in handy, someday!

• MaximumPC‘s (now vintage) upgrade guide will tell you everything you need to know about upgrading, except for how to do it:

Since I Get a 32 Bit & 64 Bit CD, Can I Install It On Two Machines?

No. Since you are only given one CD key, you can only activate a single version at a time.

Someone parsed through thousands of worlds of EULA for that nugget, I’ll have you know.

• How long has Windows 7 been in development? Who was in charge of the project? How do international prices compare for all editions? Icrontic‘s guide is of the more esoteric sort, but hey, context!:

Microsoft compiled a total of 313 builds of Windows 7, 14 of which were leaked after the January 9 Beta.

If you find this fascinating, then I find you fascinating. In a neutral way! Plus, they have pretty charts:

• IGN, taking a decidely outsidery perspective, keeps their wordcount to a minimum. If you want to be done reading about this Windows 7 bullshit in, like, 30 seconds, they’re your guys:

Despite retaining the Windows Vista “Aero” aesthetic, interactive features like the taskbar have been revamped for added efficiency. Users can now seamlessly preview, access, and arrange programs and files all from within the taskbar. Microsoft has also tweaked their native networking programs with HomeGroup, an optimized way to share files, printers, and other peripherals on a local network.

It kind of makes you want to sit down at a school desk, just so you can shoot your hand up in the air and yell, “DONE!”

Installing

• Meet ZDNet’s Ed Bott. He would very much like to convey to you the accepted procedures and practices for installing Windows 7 in broad, nontechnical terms!:

Run setup from a flash drive or a USB hard drive. Compared to slow DVDs, you can easily shave 5-10 minutes off install times. For upgrades, you can simply copy the files to the external media; if you plan to do a clean install, you’ll need to make sure the media is bootable.

• There are quite a few ways to approach an upgrade, so Lifehacker‘s compiled a reference of upgrade choices, and how to approach each one.

• And for anyone who hasn’t installed any version of Windows in the last 10 years—seriously, 7 is the easiest version yet—InformationWeek has assumed the burden of writing an exhuastive, visual, step-by-step guide to the process. For luddites, it’s a lifesaver; for everyone else, maybe it’s a comfort?:

If you already have a Windows Vista installation, you can upgrade it directly by inserting the Windows 7 DVD while Vista is running. Otherwise, skip to step 6 to begin the process from a clean boot.

Whatever, someone had to write this.

• If you’re doing a straight installation of Windows 7, and not trying any fancy dual-boot maneuvering, you’re a sub-wimp. At least, Lifehacker thinks so:

If you’re dying to try out Windows 7 but aren’t ready to give up your installation of XP or Vista, let’s take a look at how to dual boot Windows 7 with XP or Vista.

Exploring!

• As far as the tech press in concerned, Windows 7 has been effectively out since early this year. And since then, Lifehacker‘s been hoarding little bits and pieces—microguides, if you will—that together, form something amazing.

• So you’ve just rolled out Windows 7 across 1000 Dells. What now? InfoWorld has some advice:

You may be thinking, “I’ll need all (or many) new PCs to run Windows 7, so I’ll automatically go with the 64-bit version of the OS.” But before you do that, weigh the pros and cons. Although any new PC should be capable of supporting both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, you may not yet want the 64-bit version in your production environment.

Good point there, about my production environment.

• The only reason a lot of us even have PCs is to game. If gaming’s your, er, game, you’re going to want to treat your install and settings a little differently. And who knew! Windows 7 respects gamers, and their tastes!:

The Games browser might include titles that you just don’t play, such as Minesweeper. Put those away by going to the right-click menu and choosing Hide This Game or Remove From List.

• By default, Windows 7 is going to be more secure than Vista or XP, but it’s still got a bevy of settings you can adjust. If locking down Windows PCs is your job (or hobby), there are a few new things you’re going to want to know, and which PC World will be glad to tell you:

Microsoft has included the option to use BitLocker Drive Encryption without a compatible TPM, but accessing that option is not necessarily intuitive or easy.

Go oooonnn!!??

• You’ve got a fresh Windows 7 install, but you’re not satisfied yet. You want to see how fast it is now, then make it faster. AnandTech‘s got you covered.

• And finally, you’ve seen the specific guides, and you’ve played around with the OS for a few hours. Trust me, you’ve missed something. PCPro, on the other hand, hasn’t. Luxuriate in the warm ocean of minor features they’ve outlined. Every. Last. One.

The Official Word

• The lion’s share of Microsoft‘s 60MB official guide is stuff you already know, or probably don’t care to. That said, it’s exhaustive and charming, in a freshman marketing major kind of way:

Most people don’t store all their files and content in one place. Instead, their information is scattered across multiple PCs, external hard disk drives, servers, and Web sites. With Federated Search in Windows 7, you can extend your search beyond your PC—and even beyond your Libraries—to find what you need. Just add a search connector to your favorite locations to Windows 7, and you can search them as well.

No bombshells in here, but lots of helpful stuff like that.

That’s a hefty 15 guides to get you started, but new ones are cropping up all over the place. If you see one that’s not included above, let your fellow readers know in the comments.

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The DoubleTwist video view.

Certainly, DoubleTwist is a useful solution for a lot of people, especially since it incorporates automatic video transcoding for a lot of the supported devices, which is the feature that drew me to the software. However, the program is not without its pitfalls, and some of them are sure to cause no small amount of frustration. For example, the video transcoding–done during the syncing process–takes forever. Conversion speed was roughly two times normal speed, so a 90-minute movie took 50 minutes or so to encode and transfer. Still, considering DoubleTwist offers this feature for free and integrates it so simply, I’m willing to forgive the sluggishness.

Much more annoying is how slow the video library loads in thumbnail mode, and while it is loading, you can’t actually browse the selections.

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Originally posted at The Download Blog

The team announced Friday the availability of PwnageTool 3.13, which allows for jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone 3GS running the latest firmware, version 3.1. Currently only a Mac version of the tool is available, but the Windows version will be out soon.

A jailbroken iPhone can do a lot more than what Apple wants it to do.

(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)

The tool creates a custom firmware from the version 3.1 firmware released by Apple. To install it, you put the phone into recovery mode (turn it off, then plug it in while holding down the Home button) and use iTunes to restore the phone with the custom firmware (hold down the Option key while clicking on the Restore button).

The custom firmware, apart from jailbreaking, will not upgrade the baseband–the chip that connects the phone to a service provider–and therefore still allows the phone to be unlocked.

But there’s a catch here. The tool only works with the iPhone 3GS that has been jailbroken with the firmware version 3.0 or 3.0.1. This means if you buy a new iPhone 3GS that already has version 3.1 on it or you have updated to version 3.1 using iTunes, there’s still no way to have your phone jailbroken. There’s even a rumor that there might never be one, unless a new exploit is found.

If this is true, it seems Apple has finally been able to gain significant ground in stopping the practice it claims could pose a threat to national security. And for thousands, if not millions of iPhone 3GS users who rely on jailbreaking and unlocking to use their phones with the service of their choice, this is sad news.

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Originally posted at iPhone Atlas