Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with windows and microsoft

Will Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit utilize 8GB of RAM?

omaralarifi — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:08:46 -0800

Just for confirmation, will Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit utilize 8GB of RAM? I already own a laptop with windows vista ultimate 64-bit with 8GB installed. I just want to confirm if Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit will utilize 8GB of RAM or I should buy a 64-bit version.
I am not welling to buy an upgrade version but a full retail version.

Windows 7 for Less (in Canada)

smitt — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:09:57 -0800

Is there anything like Win741 for students in Canada? Does anyone know of ways to save on buying Windows 7 in Canada, either as a full time student or not?
I don't qualify for the Upgrade edition, and want to buy Windows 7 Pro. I don't think I want the OEM version, because I upgrade my computer every year or two and don't want to have to buy it multiple times.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

Windows utility to cause all movable windows to be represented in the taskbar?

odinsdream — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:02:44 -0800

Is there a Windows utility that will add buttons to the taskbar for windows that normally don't get represented there? The problem:

Open a folder. You see the taskbar button representing that folder in the taskbar. Right-click the folder and choose Properties. The properties window does not get added to the taskbar, so you can lose it behind other windows and the only way to get it back is to shuffle until you can see it.

Is there a utility that will globally cause any movable windows to be represented on the taskbar?

Windows 2000 max resolution issue

kraigory — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:12:27 -0800

I'm working on a windows 2000 pro machine that is running at 800 x 600 resolution. The monitor supports 1024x768, but in display settings, the resolution slider is all the way. It seems that 800 x 600 is the max resolution. Is there any way I can increase this?

Ultimate OS?

geekyguy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:22:43 -0800

I am currently running Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit on my laptop and am looking forward to stepping up to Windows 7. This is a great deal that would allow me to upgrade from Home Premium to Vista Ultimate which would then qualify me for Windows 7 Ultimate, right? Is this going to be the cheapest path to Widows 7 Ultimate?

When will Windows 7 be standard on new computers and how should this affect my intent to buy a new laptop?

jefficator — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:54:56 -0800

When will Windows 7 be standard on new computers and how should this affect my intent to buy a new laptop? I am in the market for a new laptop--mine is ANCIENT. I figure I might be best served by waiting until Windows 7 is standard, since all I ever hear is cracks about the quality of "Mojave".

When will Windows 7 be standard?

Is this a good idea?

Please keep the level of discussion in the kiddie pool; I'm no expert!

64-bit Vista on Mac Pro?

richg — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:24:02 -0800

I'm thinking of getting one of the new desktop Mac Pros recently announced. I'd like to both run Apple's OS X and also use Boot Camp to run 64-bit Windows Vista on it. The question is: will I be able to use the Mac Pro's keyboard and mouse with Vista? Will I be able to use an Apple Cinema Display with Vista? If I have to plug in a PC keyboard and mouse, and use a PC display, that doesn't appeal. I'd like to use the 64-bit version of Windows Vista to access more 6 or 8GB of memory. I'm worried about the lack of 64-bit device drivers, esp. for the Apple keyboard, mouse and display.

I'd appreciate advice from anyone with experience or insight into this.

Java Bunnies Breeding

Black_Umbrella — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:32:04 -0800

Which of these Java programs can i get rid of and why are they breeding like bunnies? Everyone that has my computer has the same issue where these things keep building up. It is school issued so i know a lot of people with the same computer and many of the same programs pre-installed. I have been deleting the old versions every now and again but why so many versions & which can I get rid of? I don't like 100+ MB bunnies breeding in my computer.

J2SE runtime vs Java 2 runtime vs Java 2 SDK vs Java(TM) update vs Java(TM) SE runtime

...I don't program so I don't need any if that is what they are used for. Oh and I run windows xp.

Can you find documentation regarding Windows ftp.exe and passive mode?

Roger Dodger — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 09:49:10 -0800

The Windows ftp.exe command line program does not support passive mode. Can anyone point me to definitive documentation, preferably from Microsoft, that states this is true? I know this is true from testing and network traces. You can, however, issue a QUOT PASV command, which returns a server response saying the server is now in passive mode. But, ftp.exe never then connects to the server, as it should in a passive session. I am having a hard time finding any documentation for this, and a lot of people on the internet seem to think that issuing the QUOT PASV command and getting a successful response means that you are now in passive mode. The successful response just means that the server has now been placed in passive mode, not the client. Please help me find this documentation to support this fact.

How do I increase the size of the font in my viewing pane without effecting outgoing mail in Outlook 2003?

lattiboy — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:18:03 -0800

How do I increase the size of the font in my viewing pane without effecting outgoing mail in Outlook 2003? Have googled this endlessly and all I can come up with is changing your composition font also. Just want this for reading emails, not sending. Don't think people would appreciate 16 pt. times new roman on every message.

I don't want Word to always be on top

Tomorrowful — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:39:07 -0800

All of my MS Word windows are always on top, and it's driving me nuts. This also holds for Outlook new-message windows, which are winword.exe under the hood. It's killing my productivity - for example, I can't alt-tab away from a Word document, because even if I move to another app, the Word doc is still on top, so I have to manually minimize/restore constantly. Google's failed me - all I can find is people who want to make Word do this, not stop it, and the answer always seems to be "use this third-party tool," which I obviously don't have installed. It's Word 2003 that's at fault here. Help?

How to read .msg files on a Mac?

Coherence Panda — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:56:33 -0800

I've got a bunch of (important) single .msg files that I want to read on my Mac (10.5.x). Any advice? Any tool that converts entire mailboxes doesn't seem to apply, and the only dedicated .msg reader I could find is broken. Renaming as .txt doesn't work either. Nor does Emailalchemy or NeoOffice. Help!

Why aren't there universal 32->64 bit driver translator/emulators?

Mokusatsu — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:37:56 -0800

Why aren't there universal 32->64 bit driver translator/emulators? 64 bit versions of Windows require 64 bit drivers for printers, scanners and other devices. Many people upgrading to a 64 bit computer have had to retire perfectly good hardware simply because of lack of 64 bit drivers.

One way around this is to set up a 32 bit guest OS in a virtual machine and then run your devices from the guest OS, i.e. you can install your printer on a VMWare (or other type) virtual machine with XP or Vista 32 bit (or perhaps a Linux distro) and transfer your files to the guest OS when you want to print them.

Clearly the virtual machine is able to pass on commands to the device either via the host OS, or bypassing it altogether. This seems to me to be a proof of concept for a universal driver translator.

My question is, would a 64 bit emulator program doing essentially the same job as the 32 bit virtual machine be possible? Basically it would be a virtual machine with a stripped down OS that does nothing more than run 32 bit drivers on a 64 bit host.

If it is possible, how come such a program hasn't been written yet?

I'd willingly pay $100 for such software instead of updating my hardware, because running a full blown 32 bit guest OS purely to scan or print things is a bit of a hassle. I'm sure thousands of people would, and the existence of such software would remove one of the major objections people have to getting a 64 bit OS.

How can create a simple program to modify Windows Address Book and Outlook Address Book entries?

mrbloo — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:53:09 -0800

I'd like to create a simple program that would modify the phone numbers in my MS Windows and MS Outlook Address Books (reason is we got new area codes). What is the simplest programming language on windows and best way to get this done by directly accessing the address books (without exporting to CSV)? I've done some VBS with WMI, Windows batch scripting, perl, python, javascript, PHP.. so I understand programming but not programming with MS Windows DLLs and COMs and APIs etc.

I've done some searching and found it quite complicated to work with VC++ or a similar language on MS Windows so far. Any input would be much appreciated. Thank you very much in advance.

How can I create or add a group of Favorites in Internet Explorer?

Wagging Dog — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:15:36 -0800

How can I turn a long list of hyperlinks into either a list of filenames in Windows Explorer or a list of Favorites in Internet Explorer? Say I have 1,000 hyperlinks in a list so it is 1,000 entries long (could be in an Excel file, a Word file, or on a web page). I want to have these 1,000 hyperlinks as Favorites, which seems to be the same as converting them from the content of one file to the file names of 1,000 files. I can manually save each hyperlink as the name of a file, but if there are 1,000, and if they need to be updated every week, that would be a killer. I need an automated solution.

How to surmount the enormous obstacle of text color?

freudenschade — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:33:35 -0800

Form Controls in Word 2007: OK, I created a form with Rich Text and Drop-Down List controls. The controls appear within a table. The question is, how do I get the resulting text (once the form is filled in) to appear in black, not gray? No matter what I try, it seems the best consistent result I can get is to change the default prompt text (i.e. "Click here to enter text") within the control to black -- which still results in gray text as soon as something is entered. This should be a simple thing to accomplish, but my usual resourcefulness has failed me.

how to re-enable wmp11 combining artists/albums/etc?

lrodman — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 11:32:05 -0800

I checked "Don't ask me again" when dragging one artist into another in WMP11 on vista in order to change all the names from one to another (to combine "the beatles" and "beatles" into one, in this case), expecting it to just do it without asking in the future, but now I've lost this functionality altogether. How can I re-enable it?

configuration of vista breadcrumb bar/firefox second tab row

lrodman — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:15:34 -0800

Is it possible to trim Vista Breadcrumb sections so that the breadcrumb bar doesn't clip off most of the path in long titles? I.e. anything over say, 10 characters gets cropped, so that long paths can be shown? Also, is there a way to fix the glitchy second row of tabs in firefox? I want the second row of tabs to have the same height as the first, so that graphics don't go all screwy.

Windows Refund: Bought Laptop from Dell Outlet. Dell Refusing to Give me a Refund for Windows Vista

BillyRayMae — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 10:22:33 -0800

Dell Outlet Windows / OS Refund. I recently bought a laptop from Dell Outlet. It came with Windows Vista Home. As I use another OS, I did not accept the EULA when I turned on the system for the first time. Doing some research on the net, I discovered that Dell had refunded many customers who did not wish to use Microsoft Windows.

So, I emailed Dell asking for a refund. Here's the reply I got:

"Thank you for contacting Dell Online Customer Care regarding your order.
As you order was bough in our outlet store, this in built in on the Inspiron. It's not possible as it's built into all the system's that are sold in the Dell Outlet as there refurbished tags they are purchased from new sales.
When they are sent back to Dell we do not remove the OS Vista Software we resell it the way it was sent back.
If you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me."

I replied:

"I bought a laptop form Dell. Laptop came with Microsoft Windows Vista.
This means I paid for Microsoft Windows Vista.
Microsoft don't give out free copies of their operating systems.
The system came with a C.O.A.
The fact that the laptop was bought form the Dell Outlet should have nothing do do with it.
Dell pay Microsoft for Windows Vista regardless whether the system is sold on the main Dell website or in the Dell Outlet!
When the laptop arrived, I turned it on.
The EULA appeared. I did not tick any of the Boxes.
The EULA stated:

"By using the software you accept these terms. If you do not accept
them, do not use the software.
Instead, contact the manufacturer or installer to determine their return
policy or a refund or credit"

The EULA was:
EULA ID: VISTA_RM.0.CONSUMER_OEM_en-US

I then rebooted the system and installed another OS.
I have taken pictures of the above procedure.
Other users have received refunds for the above products."

Dell replied:

"Thank you for your mail below.
You have not paid for this software, it is part of the package when you bought this order.
Dell do buy the software from Microsoft and they add the software to customer's orders free of change as promotion offers. Dell pays for this software not the customer.
Your order is refurbished as you bought it from the Dell outlet. I have sent this mail to our Technical Support Department to see if they can help you with query as Customer Care cannot refund this."

Do I have less rights because I bought a system from Dell Outlet?

thanks

Making Colonization work in Vista

saladin — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 05:33:49 -0800

Can't play Colonization in Vista... A have a (ahem) copy of Colonization that I'd been happily playing on my 3 year old XP computer for several years, problem free. I recently bought a new PC with Vista; after copying over all the relevant files, my new machine steadfastly refuses to open Colonization. Instead, I'm given the error message "C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe; This system does not support fullscreen mode." I'm then directed to close the program. I get the same error message when attempting to reinstall.

I'm beginning to worry that I'll never again know the pleasure of paying the Tupi to burn British villages. Help me, AskMetafilter!

Limiting Filetypes in Foldershare

schleppo — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 14:10:06 -0800

Any one know if you can limit MS's Foldershare app to only sync certain filetypes (say .mp3 only). I am trying to sync my music collection between 2 PC's but I've hit the 10000 file limit. These folders include the .jpg album covers that media player downloads when updating an album. I would rather sync just the .mp3 files and have each PC download the album art so I can stay under the 10000 file limit. Thanks.

IP over Firewire in Vista

nervestaple — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 12:36:12 -0800

I see that Microsoft has quietly dropped IP networking over Firewire/1394 from Windows Vista. Is there any possible way to enable it, using third-party drivers or software?

Third Times a charm

DJWeezy — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:34:43 -0800

I am building a new computer and was wondering if this setup seems good I already have the OS and case/power supply more details after break. (previously, previously) LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA

MSI NX8400GS-TD256E GeForce 8400GS 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Xeon 3060 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX805573060 - Retail

Already have the case Alienware MJ-12 Mid-Tower ATX Case with 700 Watt Power Supply

Os XP

How can I make a Distiller-like program for Office 2007?

sammich — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 03:35:51 -0800

I want to set up a system where Windows will watch a folder for any Office 2007 files and then automatically convert them into Office 2003/2004 files. I'm a Mac admin for a small office. We use Office 2004. People here are being given Office 2007 format (docx, xlsx, pptx) files from outside PC users. Office 2004 cannot read 2007 files natively and the converter that the Microsoft Mac people handed out kinda blows (it wont even touch Excel files).

I want to set up a system that does what Adobe Acrobat Distiller does but with Office files. Where anyone can drop off a 2007 file on to a shared folder, and every x minutes Windows will check up on this folder and open up its respective application and covert them to the older format.

Is there a product that will do this for me? Is QuickKeys a good idea?

Can I automate all this? I know my way around Mac scripting but on Windows i'm a total n00b. But I would at least like to know if it's possible and what to start learning. How do you automate things in Windows Explorer and Office?

Where is the "Command Line"

wtfwjd? — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:47:36 -0800

I'm not so good with the computer. The info on a program I want to run says: "Run from the Command Line." What is a command line, and how do I find this mythical place? I tried clicking "Start" --> "Run" . I though that the little box that popped up was the command line. But it didn't work. Is something else the command line? Thanks for any pointers! (Dang, I feel dumb.)