File & Folder SYNC – Backup – Replicate

Lets face it more and more people are being given Notebooks at their place of work.  You want to have access to files at the office and away.  You may not have internet access and your VPN performance might not be what you would like.

You can certainly use Cloud based solutions and sync to the cloud – but security might be an issue with work related documents.  Company policy might be to save all files on the network so they are backed up and keep nothing on your local drive on your notebook.

There are several different solutions you might want to look at when your trying to follow policy as well as being as productive as possible.   You can use Microsoft Live Mesh to sync your network files or folders with your local drive on your notebook.  Alternatively I saw a small application reviewed today called FOLDER Replica (Win2000 / XP / Vista / Win7).  Take a look for yourself – read the review it might be handy to have.

Folder replica is a folder synchronization program that is designed to make your life easier in daily file manipulation routines. Advancement in HDD drive technology has made hard drives a cheap, fast and accessible backup option. The flexibility to copy and change data on to your backup device has brought new problems of how to avoid unnecessary data transfer every time you want to make a fresh copy of your data.

Full Review @ addictivetips

 

Windows 7 Resources – Dedicated FOLDER just added!

I wanted to make sure you where aware of a new FOLDER added to the blog, like the others I try to keep it updated with current information and posts related to the folder.

Thought I would start a WINDOWS 7 folder since I have posted many resources and articles around moving to Windows 7 and I realize for many this can be and will be a difficult process.

WINDOWS 7 RESOURCES

This page is dedicated to the posts that I have made on Windows 7, you will find WHY and how type posts.  I hope this will assist you in making the final decision to move to Windows 7 and also help you on your way.

Windows – 7 – Should you – Shouldn’t you – WHY? – 7 reasons to move to WIN7

Windows 7 Deployment – An Insider’s Guide – Webinar – Hopefully you can view, as this happened on FEB 2nd

Windows 7 – Thinking of MOVING! Need HELP? – Resources to assist you in moving from XP to WIN7

Windows – 7 – Should you – Shouldn’t you – WHY?

Came across a great article today that goes through 7 reasons you should be moving to Windows 7 sooner than later!

Summary: Evolution vs. Revolution

At the end of the day, what makes Windows 7 compelling isn’t any significant feature. In fact, it is the lack of major features that makes Windows 7 so important. Like XP, its spiritual predecessor, Windows 7 tweaks a working formula.Vista introduced the new kernel, the new interface, UAC and other features. Introducing change is painful. Windows 7 takes what works and makes it better. Windows 7 is the long term, strategic desktop decision because it is a polished system that introduces small, incremental updates and relies on established features to drive its overarching value. If Vista was revolutionary, think of Windows 7 as evolutionary.

 

The REASONS:

1. Inevitability
2. Performance
3. Security
4. Solid State Drives
5. XP Mode
6. Branch Cache
7. Direct Access

Read the details for each @

7 Reasons to Migrate to Windows 7

Windows 7 – Personalize Your System – USING THEME’S

Most people like to make their computers fit with who they are, they want to personalize to make it more enjoyable to work on them. 

Windows 7 allows you to do more then XP ever did….  Theme packs are for sure one way to really make your computer yours…

I have found several sources that go through the process….

Tips for creating great Windows 7 themes, part 1 – Microsoft BLOG

Create a theme – Microsoft Windows BLOG

Windows 7 Tip of the Week: Personalize Your Desktop with Wallpaper and Aero Themes – Supersite for Windows

Theme File Format – MSDN Library

 Take a look, all of these are good to get you started making your computer special.

Windows 7 Deployment – An Insider’s Guide – Webinar

For many thinking of moving to Windows 7 can be a huge task, you have been using XP for what seems like forever.  You know all there is to know about Windows XP.  You had a reason to delay when VISTA arrived, but today you may not have a choice in moving to Windows 7.

Why not take an hour out of your busy schedule and attend the webinar from Microsoft, learn about moving to Windows 7 – the tools and issues etc…

Need to build your Windows 7 deployment knowledge?  Looking to for some deployment tips and tricks that can help save you time (and headaches)?  Join Steve Campbell, Microsoft Services, Deployment Architect and myself at 9am (PST) on February 2 for a webinar: “Windows 7 Deployment – An Insider’s Guide.”   

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE and details about the Webinar

Security – NEW VERSION – Windows Security Essentials 2

If your thinking of changing your Anti-Virus software this might be the time.  If your using a payed version, you might want to safe yourself some money and switch.   Before last year I was using AVG FREE service, but each time it updated and did a SCAN I would see a noticable difference in my computer performance during that time.  When I switched to MSE – I have no idea when the scan or update is happening.

This is a very light, easy to install and use Anti-Virus software, one that Microsoft puts out and just by the history of this product are working in keeping this product fresh and new. 

Windows Security Essentials 2

WINSUPERSITE Post

Windows Firewall integration. MSE 2 integrates with the built-in Windows Firewall and will prompt you to enable this integration during Setup. This way, MSE can include firewall monitoring as part of its overall PC health monitoring.

New protection engine. The MSE antimalware engine has been updated to offer enhanced detection and cleanup capabilities with better performance.

Network inspection system. MSE 2 now helps protect against network-based exploits.

Other improvements. MSE 2 includes other important, if hard-to-find, changes. You can specify that CPU usage not exceed a certain limit (the default is 50 percent) during scheduled scans. MSE 2 reports when definitions were checked in addition to when they were updated so that you can be sure it’s working properly if a long time has elapsed between definition updates. The real-time protection functionality offers more fine-grained control. You can now auto-remove quarantined files after a specified interval, though that option is disabled by default. And Microsoft now allows you to opt out of Microsoft SpyNet, the online community that ensures that MSE stays up to date; I don’t recommend doing this for obvious reasons.

Migrate to WIN7 OR Not! – MED-V Might get you moving forward!

Microsoft really wants you to move to Windows 7 – Yes they sell more licenses, but it is also very expensive to support multiple O/S.  To that end they are trying to make the switch as painless as possible, but the bottom line in most educational districts – they are working with older software that just doesn’t work on WIN7.

MED-V looks like it might just solve that issue and doing it cleanly at least for the user, possibly not for the IT person setting up?  Since I have not done this setup I cannot answer that question.  Certainly require more research if it does what they are saying!

MED-V is a bridge to help you create a longer term plan for your more complex applications that may not be compatible with Windows 7 and are too costly to migrate at this exact moment.  MED-V can accelerate your migration to Windows 7 by removing legacy application barriers.  It delivers a seamless user experience, consolidates legacy desktop hardware and allows users to access the legacy applications from a single desktop experience. It also enables the business to move all desktops to a better performing, more secure operating system, Windows 7.  READ FULL POST

Thinking of WINDOWS 7 – Tiss the season to SAVE! (Teachers, Parents)

Microsoft is bringing back a great bundle for those people who have multiple machines at home and are running XP or Vista – MS has re-released the family pack MS WIN7 HOME Premium upgrade pack (3-Users) for less than purchasing two individual licenses. Now is the time to UPGRADE if you have been thinking! You will love WIN7, its fast, clean and a lot more secure.

Windows LIVE Essentials 2011 – Out of BETA – RELEASED

I have mentioned on several occasional that this package from Microsoft is a very clean and well put together piece of software (Multiple software titles).  This may not be for the true Techie, but for the common PC user this package is a fantastic add-on to Windows Vista and Windows 7.  I know what I will be doing tonight to my two systems at home!

Do more with Windows on your PC with free programs from Microsoft for photos, movies, instant messaging, email, social networking, and more. Get it all in one simple download.

Messenger – Stay in touch with the people you care about most from your PC, phone, or the web. Share photos and videos as you chat, and see the latest updates from your friends.

Photo Gallery – Get great tools for organizing, touching up, and sharing your photos and videos. Create stunning panoramas, movies, and slide shows, and publish them online.

Movie Maker – Turn your photos and videos into polished movies that are easy to share. Add special effects, transitions, sound, and captions to help tell your story in style.

Mail – Efficiently manage multiple email accounts, calendars, and your contacts—even when you’re offline. Plus, use a great tool for sharing lots of photos in email without filling up anyone’s inbox.

Also included in Windows Live Essentials – Writer, Family Safety, Windows Live Mesh, Messenger Companion, Bing Bar Outlook Connector Pack, Microsoft Silverlight.

Details list from Supersite Blog

From the Microsoft Blog – Inside Windows Live – Hit the link to learn all about this great package!

We are pleased to announce that Windows Live Essentials 2011 for Windows 7 and Windows Vista is now available for download! (Releasing in 48 languages over the next few hours, so if your language is not yet available, it will be very soon.) Windows Live Essentials 2011 was designed and built to connect your PC to the services you use every day. We’re also announcing today that Dell will be the first global PC manufacturer to ship PCs with Windows Live Essentials 2011 and Windows 7 pre-installed, just in time for your holiday purchases. Many other PC manufacturers are also planning to make Windows Live Essentials 2011 available and we’ll continue to keep you updated as they start releasing.

Download it today!

Get started and download Windows Live Essentials 2011 today. It is being released in 48 languages over the next few hours, so if you don’t see it in your language yet, you should see it very soon. If you’re running Windows Vista or Windows 7 on your PC, make sure you have the latest Windows updates installed before you install Windows Live Essentials (see the system requirements here). If your computer is still running Windows XP, you can, of course, continue to use the current Windows Live Essentials software, and then switch to Windows Live Essentials 2011 when you buy a new PC or upgrade to Windows 7.

Together with Windows 7 and the new Internet Explorer 9 beta, Windows Live Essentials completes your Windows experience and connects your PC to the services you use every day. Try it out and let us know what you think!

Some other news

Dell to Offer Windows Live Essentials 2011 on New Systems Later This Year

Windows Upgrade – Moving from XP to WIN7 – Steady State

Do you use Steady State tool kit?

You always have to wonder when companies have a great product or service – they do an upgrade and that service goes away.  Well Microsoft is certainly one of those companies many times over.

I see some changes happening at Microsoft, they are starting to do many things differently – one of them is listening to the users and doing something about it or trying!

If you manage system then most likely you have used Windows Steady State tool kit, well they have never created a Windows 7 version of this great tool.  When I say Microsoft listens and take actions, well I don’t think you will see Steady State for WIN7…..

A Windows 7 version of Steady State was not created and we’ve heard loud and clear from IT Pros that this is something they wanted and needed.  After we evaluated the types of functionality Steady State provides, we found that using new Windows capabilities that are built into Windows 7, Group Policies and free tools from Microsoft, the majority of Steady State functionality could actually be replicated by IT admins.

The good news is that they have addressed this concern and have put together a few papers explaining how to do almost the same thing as Steady State for XP and Vista within WIN7 – So Microsoft says…

Going back to the Windows article, the comments don’t paint a very good picture… read for yourself!

If your thinking of moving to WIN7 or already have and was wondering where STEADY STATE was, well you have your answer and some reading to do.

Steady State for Windows 7

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