The Windows and Windows Software Megathread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The Windows and Windows Software Megathread

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Sounder posted:

This is surreal: I'm actually using native Windows apps and loving them. IE8 is fast and its explorer integration is tight. Windows Media Player 12 has a shitload of codecs built-in and a FUCKTON of features that I would normally need to download third-party apps for (you can stream your music and video libraries to your mobile computers using Windows Live, for example).

Just one problem right now: I can't figure out how Windows Media Player does Internet Radio. There's just not a button for it anywhere. Anyone found anything?

This is the revelation I had this weekend, the Microsoft apps are running so smoothly and with such great integration with the jump list feature I'm actually using IE8 and WMP at times (nowhere near fully converted though) when before I wouldn't tough them with a barge pole :ssh:

# ¿ May 18, 2009 10:17

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 06:10

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Is it wrong that I'm seriously considering using Windows Live Messenger and Mail and my IM and email client on Win7?! The programs have been dead to me all through XP and Vista thanks to Miranda/Digsby and Thunderbird but they look so much sexier now, I think Windows 7 is actually making me feel like programs shouldn't just be functional and a bit drab a la Mozilla's offerings.

# ¿ May 18, 2009 16:54

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Sorry for not having a source but I'm sure I read somewhere that the Ultimate edition and some Retail bundles would only be available during promotional periods, otherwise it would just be the Home and Professional packages available.

# ¿ May 19, 2009 16:53

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

I got all angry with ClearType being fuzzy when I first installed 7 but then I realised it was because I had my monitor at the wrong refresh rate :doh:

# ¿ May 22, 2009 15:20

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Emo Businessman posted:

Is OpenGL completely hosed in this build of Windows 7 as well? I loved Win7 Beta, but I couldn't stand not being without my Quake Live and Tribes 2. Apparently it worked for some people, but for those people with ATI cards and the 64-bit version of Vista we were out of luck.

I found a way around this to get CounterStike and Quake working on my 7100 x64 and ATI x1600 on some forum somewhere, someone who had knocked out a solution (though I forget where so can't link/credit them) used the latest working catalyst driver (which for me is catalyst 9.1) but also found that the last working OpenGL driver which works with Win7 (part of Catalyst 8.9) and the relevant .dll's so you can keep the latest drivers for general graphics and D3D games but getting OpenGL's rear end in gear.

code:

1. Get the Catalyst 8.9 (vista x64) package

2. Use 7-Zip to extract the files inside the package exe

3. Inside the extracted files, search and copy the two files below
atioglxx.dl_ (about 4MB)
atioglxx.xml (very small size)

4. For the tutorials sake, paste the two files in the root of your C:\

5. Start command prompt, go to C: then type "expand atioglxx.dl_ atioglxx.dll" (you will notice the dll file is now about 9MB)

8. Go to C:\Windows then search for the dll and xml files one-by-one using the top right search box

9. Go to each of the folders that contain the dll and xml files, take ownership and overwrite them

10. Start your favorite old school OpenGL game in full screen without flicker!

Though it's a ball ache to have to get around it, I've got everything running fine now

# ¿ Jun 1, 2009 16:11

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

man thats gross posted:

Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options\System Settings

God drat do I love this OS.

And Birmingham by the looks of it :britain:

# ¿ Jun 2, 2009 08:59

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Iblys posted:

A few more questions.

1) How are people going with dual monitors, specifically TVs?

2) Does VLC play ball nicely?

3) V/sync issues have been a recurring factor with me, XP, my Radeon 1950xt (I think that's what it's called) and my TV connected by component video. Anyone want to talk about any Windows 7 v/sync issues?

I don't dual monitor or use a TV output, but VLC works perfectly well for me and I haven't had any v/sync issues with my Radeon x1600

# ¿ Jun 2, 2009 11:02

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

longview posted:

Build 7201 leaked earlier today, I did a fresh install with it on my Aspire One. It seems faster than 7137, too early to tell if it's more stable.

Apparently it's from the RC2 branch.

Are the subsequent releases after 7100 RC on the Microsoft website? Or an easy way to get access to the latest (official) builds?

# ¿ Jun 4, 2009 13:50

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

longview posted:

I don't think there are any official builds released outside of leaks to torrent sites and USENET. Unless you're a Microsoft Partner or official tester.

Ah that's ok then, I didn't want to be missing out on improved builds

# ¿ Jun 4, 2009 14:00

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

m2pt5 posted:

I don't think so, but the sidebar has been replaced with the ability to put those same gadgets anywhere on the desktop.

Though I'm not using it myself, I remember seeing that gadgets can be added by right clicking on the desktop and there is a context menu there to add them. I think you have to download the Windows Live Extras or whatever it's called to do it.

# ¿ Jun 9, 2009 16:17

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

CubanMissile posted:

Ok, but I can't seem to find the Vista driver by itself. If I select the catalyst drivers from here: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Legacy/Pages/radeonaiw_vista32.aspx?type=2.4.1&product=2.4.1.3.23&lang=English it only gives me the option to run an .exe After I run it the program just tells me it didn't install the drivers. So I uninstalled the microsoft drivers and used the standard vga. Then I go to the directory ATI installs, and the only .inf I can find to install manually are for Radeon HD cards. It's like they uploaded the wrong driver package to the site. The file is called 9-3_vista32_win7_32_dd.exe, which seems to me like the wrong thing since the only cards the will let you download the Windows 7 drivers for are the ones that appear on the list for the .inf files I found.

ATI are not updating their "legacy" (all cards before their HD range) card drivers as frequently anymore.

On Win7 x64, the Catalyst 9.3 drivers didn't work at all for me. For my old Radeon x1600 card I've had to use the Vista x64 9.1 catalyst drivers for the latest DirectX games but for older games (like CounterStrike, Quake etc) that only really support OpenGL rendering get the 8.9 catalyst drivers.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2009 13:12

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

I did post this in the WoW Goon forums but I remembered seeing others having some WoW issues with Windows 7 through the course of these threads so thought I'd ask here too as I suspect it's a permissions problem.

I'm still having problems with WoW not saving my UI settings on Windows 7 and defaults to old settings every time I log in.

WoW is installed to C:\Users\Public\Games (full access rights to my user and administrator), I have set WoW.exe and Launcher.exe to run as administrator, and I have tried deleting my WTF folder and re-launcing... but to no avail! I've also tried setting the config.wtf to be read only and then back again but every time I launch WoW it defaults back no matter what I set. All my other settings are being saved (key bindings, addon settings etc) but the Video options are always lost.

Am I missing something glaringly obvious? Has anyone else had to tinker with permissions to get this working?

# ¿ Jun 23, 2009 11:30

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Linux Nazi posted:

It definitely sounds like permissions. I run WoW from the same location as I did in XP (C:\games\wow\) and haven't had any problems. Did you come from a vista install? I think vista (only used it for like a week) kept some wow files somewhere besides the wow folder. If so track that down and check permissions on that folder.

Also try running wow as administrator see if it still gives you grief?

I did a fresh install of Windows 7 so no leftover WoW files in bad places that I know of, I've set the WoW.exe to run as administrator already too. When looking at the permissions there were a few random user groups like SYSTEM, and CREATOR along with my user and Administrator, do I need to give them access rights? I don't have a clue what users/process would use those groups. I really feel like I shouldn't be having to do all this to get it to work, the install and all game updates all ran fine, no administrator/UAC problems, but now I'm left with this!

# ¿ Jun 23, 2009 15:20

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Just pre-ordered my copy of Professional "E" and I didn't realise that the EU crap about IE they had to have this in the product information:

quote:

Please be aware that you should download a web browser of your choice and burn it to disc before starting the Windows installation, as this release does not include a browser.

# ¿ Jul 31, 2009 14:32

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Mierdaan posted:

Is there some sort of well-known stability problem with 7 64-bit and Office 2007? Both on 7100 and 7600 now, Word and Excel like to crash

When I open them

When I click on anything in the app

When I save a document

When I close the app

Office 2007 is updated to SP2, completely fresh install, no addins... can't see what I could be doing wrong here.

I've not had any problems with my 7 64-bit install (6100) and Office 2007. Do you have them installed on a separate/external drive?

# ¿ Aug 13, 2009 16:11

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

uXs posted:

I keep wanting to drag maximized windows from one monitor to the other. But no, I have to un-maximize it, drag it, then maximize it again like some neanderthal.

I spent a good few minutes resizing two word documents to fill half of each size of the screen this morning on XP :effort:

Maybe I can make a case to my boss that I'd work much more efficiently at home on my Windows 7 install!

# ¿ Aug 25, 2009 10:53

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Dominoes posted:

Is there a way to disable taskbar grouping for specific programs?

I like the new taskbar. It's useful for relegating the system tray for use on legacy apps. I like having my applications take up the same space, and the labels are unnecessary, even on a high-res monitor.

Problem: I need an extra click (or a 3-key shortcut) and some unnecessary thinking to switch between Firefox and Chatzilla, or multiple Pigin IMs/Pidgin IM and contacts list. I'd like to not have them group. Is there a way to do this?

I really want to like the new taskbar, but click, think, click whenever I switch windows on two of my most commonly-used apps might be enough to kill it for me.

I'd like a function like this too, most programs I'm happy with the grouping but it feels all wrong when having multiple word/excel/etc docs open.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2009 14:36

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Having used VLC to solve my codec woes for so long, can someone recommend me a a good codec pack so I can go back to using WMP when I install my Windows 7 Pro later?

# ¿ Nov 3, 2009 18:02

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Casao posted:

This is a terrible idea. Dropbox is slow, it's a free service with no guarantees and it's designed to sync files between systems, not be used as a backup.

Seconding the Shark007 codec pack thing - it works, it's mindlessly simple. I use it for streaming via MCE to my 360.

MPCHC is definitely the way to go for watching videos on the pc though.

Streaming to my 360 is exactly the reason I was looking for a codec pack, will definitely try this out, cheers.

# ¿ Nov 3, 2009 23:28

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Xenomorph posted:

One of the many issues I had with MSE.

I want to know how frequently Microsoft plans on updating it. Microsoft is SLOW with updates, and having to wait several months for a new EXE file is kinda lame when all the other AV companies will release program updates as soon as they can.

It's probably a more realistic hope that CCleaner will start sorting out the left behinds than any program update coming soon.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2009 16:48

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

imsuxok? posted:

Any reports of older lcd monitors not working under 64-bit Windows 7? I checked Microsoft's compatibility database and I couldn't find mine listed (Samsung Syncmaster 931cw). I want to upgrade to W7, but not if it means buying a new monitor.

I'm using my old Samsung Syncmaster 710v, it displays fine on Windows 7 Professional's default driver but not to any great resolution and Samsung's own updated drivers only support XP.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2009 10:25

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

imsuxok? posted:

I assume you're able to run the monitor's optimal resolution at least?

Yeah running at 1280 x 1024 @ 70hz with no problem

# ¿ Nov 6, 2009 10:54

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Repo Man posted:

All of my attempts to install a Vista driver, both last summer when running the the Windows 7 RC, and a couple of weeks ago when I installed the real thing, failed. I was resigned to not having Il2 run properly until I could buy a new video card. it was a major reason why I went back to using my hard drive that has XP on it instead of using Windows 7. Now that ATI have released an actual Windows 7 driver for it, it works.

edit: ignore me, looks like they are upto 9.11 for us legacy old boys. Will have to update when I get home...

# ¿ Nov 23, 2009 17:08

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Fists Up posted:

Im having problems with Windows 7 completely freezing up on me. It seemed to happen randomly where I would just be doing anything and all of a suddent it stops. I can't move the mouse. Can't CTRL ALT DEL. Can't do anything except reset.

It will happen on start up or after a few hours.

I've got no idea. Right now I think its linked to steam where that was giving me errors and whenever I would load that it would happen. But then again it works sometimes so I don't know.

It doesn't appear to happen in safe mode but then my lovely wireless PCI adapter isn't detected in safe mode.

I would really not rather reformat.

Any help?

Try running in normal mode without peripherals first, like Graphics Card, NIC, extra Hard Drives etc. before reformatting. Doesn't sound like a Windows problem so much as a dodgy driver/device.

# ¿ Dec 3, 2009 10:20

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

My x64 Professional retail install didn't ask me for a version when I skipped key entry :iiam:

# ¿ Dec 10, 2009 17:51

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Stugene posted:

Because I've still got a license for it, and wasn't thinking "Oh mercy, don't use ZoneAlarm, there's a guy on SA that takes offence ". In all seriousness, its me just being lazy and installing the same Firewall/Anti-Virus as everyone else on my network.

Back to my original question though, anyone experiencing CCC not opening for them, at all, on Win7?

I did have problems when on the betas but CCC has been fine for me on RTM W7 Pro x64, I'm on the "legacy" drivers for my stone age x1600 but CCC has been working ever since version 9.8.

# ¿ Dec 14, 2009 17:01

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Iblys posted:

Two questions

1) is there an ad-block equivalent
2) can I port my Firefox data (saved passwords and bookmarks)

1) Yes, but not quite as refined
2) Yes

# ¿ Dec 15, 2009 13:28

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Cross posting this as there was no response. This is probably a known issue but has anyone had problems with Windows Media Center and .avi files? I'm running Windows 7 Pro, and using the Shark007 codecs which work perfectly when playing in WMP but in WMC the files don't even appear when scanning the my drives. Pictures and Music files are fine but Videos (all .avi encoded)... nothing.

A bit of googling and it looks like a registry tweak was needed to get it working, but this is quite an old fix on Vista I don't like trampling the registry at the best of times but especially not if it's a tweak from an older OS.

I wanted to get it working so I can stream to my 360 but I'm falling at the first hurdle

# ¿ Jan 23, 2010 16:37

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 06:10

osigas: Mar 4, 2006; Then maybe you shouldn't be living here

Remicion posted:

This might be the wrong thread, but I'm using Windows 7 and IE. I have bad vision and I run around with IE zoomed in at 150% zoom most of the time, and sometimes I need it zoomed in a little more, but it goes straight from 150% to 200%. I prefer a 175% but it's not listed. I know I can do a few more clicks and manually type in 175%, but I'd rather just replace the 200% with 175%.

Is there any way to do this? Or any other programs that will do this as easily as IE's does?

Do you use the keyboard shortcuts? I just tried and Ctrl++ steps up by 25% each time (doesn't skip 175%), Chrome, Firefox and Opera all do this too.

# ¿ May 12, 2010 12:11

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