Windows 7 Starter edition is the lowest, basic Windows 7 edition available at a very cheap price. Such a price is justified by the fact that a lot of features and options available in other Windows 7 editions are completely missing in this version. In fact, for example, you can not change and customize the wallpaper,  you can only use the “Windows Basic”, you can not switch between users, you can not change window colors, or sound schemes etc. This little tutorial will teach you how to unlock certain features in Windows 7 Starter in order to customize it in any way you wish!

1. As a first step, download  and install Stardock MyColors.  This little tool will let you change the theme of your Windows 7.
2. Now, if you want to change the screensaver click Start and in the Search field, type change screen saver.
3. Click the Change Screen Saver option and change the screensaver!
4. If instead you want to change the system sound, click Start and in the Search field, type change system sounds.
5. Change the system sound scheme with the ones available

Microsoft Windows 7 has already accustomed us to incredible, hidden tools which are kept secretly hidden from view to the vast majority of users. . Today I want to talk about another hidden tool which is available in Windows 7 but, for some unknown reason, is not accessible from any menu. The only way to turn it on is  type a special command in the Search field located in the Start Menu!

Such a tool can be considered a kind of  Troubleshooting Tool and it is called  Problem Steps Recorder. Here is the simple procedure to turn it on:

1. Click Start.
2. In the Search Field, type psr
3. Hit Enter.
4. Done!

As soon as you hit Enter an elongated, plain, rectangular window will appear on your screen. Don’t be fooled by its look! Such a tool is an incredible and powerful recorder able to record every step performed by any user working at the computer! As soon as you press the Start Record button whatever you will do on the screen will be discreetly recorder  for later view. To stop recording, Simple click the “Stop Record” button.

Among its options we can find:

• Choose the location where to save the file containing the steps performed by the user.
• The tool creates files in ZIP format. Such file contains an MHTML file.
• Turn off Recording  by settings “Enable screen capture” option to No.
• Send the file via email by using “Send to E-mail recipient” option.

A serious security vulnerability in Microsoft's newest operating system could expose users to code execution and denial-of-service attacks, the company warned in an advisory issued late Tuesday.

The vulnerability, which only affects Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, was publicly discussed ahead of Microsoft's advisory but the company said there are are no reports of attacks attempting to exploit the flaw.

The flaw was found in the Canonical Display Driver (cdd.dll), which is used by desktop composition to blend the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI) and DirectX drawing.

More information from the MSRC blog:

Windows Media Center is one of the most used tools in  Windows 7 which lets you organize your media files in an easy way. But what if you want to watch YouTube videos and other videos which rely on Internet services? Recently, and without a lot of fuss, a member of the greenbutton.com forum has released an interesting plug-in called Macro Tube which aims to solve this issue. Thanks to it you will be able to watch your favorite YouTube videos, directly from WMC!

The way this plug-in works is very easy! Install it and you are done! Go to Windows Media Player (which by the way is only available in Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate), open the Extra library and you will see the big Macro Tube icon.  Click it and select whatever video you want! Alternatively, you can also search for a particular video thanks to the specific search field.

Download the Macro Tube 32-bit version here.
Download the Macro Tube 64-bit version here.

 

via .webtlk.com

Microsoft has recently released a new, interesting, fantastic theme for Windows 7 called NASA Hidden Universe. The theme features impressive infrared images taken from the Spitzer Space Telescopewebsite. Let’s see how to grab it right away!

Reading fromWindows.Microsoft.com: “A universe filled with kaleidoscopic colors blazes across your desktop in this theme for Windows 7, revealed by the infrared imaging of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.”  The theme contains 14 great, bright images of stars, nebulae, and galaxies.

To Download the theme,visit this page.