Author: Tarek

Introduction As Twitter got integrated into iOS 5.0 for iPhone and iPad devices, Twitter is now integrated with Mountain Lion 10.8. In this article I will be showing you how to enable Twitter, and then will show you few examples for using the Integrated Twitter in OS X Mountain Lion. Note : If you already have a twitter account, then proceed reading, else you will first need to signup for an account so that you would be able to enable it in OS X Mountain Lion. To sign up for a Twitter account, go to http://www.twitter.com/ Lets first enable Twitter in…

Introduction You already have a Windows 7 machine and now you bought Windows 8? Planning to do an in-place upgrade so that you don’t need to reinstall all your programs from scratch ? Then this is the right article for you. It will show you how easy the in-place upgrade is performed to upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 8. > Always backup your data, so that if whatever happens during the upgrade, your data would be safe. 1. Ok, so put your Windows 8 DVD disk into the DVD drive and then the AutoPlay should popup to choose an action,…

Introduction In this article, I will be showing you how to perform a clean installation of Windows 8, illustrating to you the new setup wizard and options introduced with Windows 8 installation. On October 26, 2012 – Windows 8 will be publically available. You will either be upgrading your current operating system, or you will buy a new machine and need to install the OS on it, or format your current one and install a clean copy of Windows 8.To perform a clean installation, follow the below steps : 1. Insert the DVD disk of your Windows 8 into the…

Introduction In a previous article, How To Purchase and Upgrade to Mac OS X Mountain Lion , I have shown you how MAC OS X Mountain Lion is only available as a download from Apple’s Mac App Store. In this article, I will be showing you how to create a bootable USB install disk, this will be very useful so that you can use it later to format your machine or to upgrade multiple other MAC machines without needing to download the 4GB installer multiple times, or even install OS X Mountain Lion on a machine that has no internet…

Introduction MAC OS X Mountain Lion inherits MAC OS X Lion’s distribution method. More specifically, it’s available only as a download from Apple’s Mac App Store. This makes it easier and more convenient to upgrade your OS than having to buy and use a DVD or thumb drive. In this article, I will be showing you how to purchase OS X Mountain Lion. Before purchasing a new operating system, you will need to know the system requirement needed. Basic System Requirements for OS X Mountain Lion: 64-Bit Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better required Ability to boot into OS…

Introduction Creating a Cluster with Windows Server 2003 was a little bit confusing for administrators. Now with Windows Server 2008, its much easier. In this article I will be showing you how to setup a cluster with two nodes using Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clustering feature. Creating a failover clustering means you have at least two servers connected to a shared storage. Failover Clustering System Requirement: Windows Server 2008/R2 : Failover Clustering feature is available with Windows Server 2008/R2 Enterprise/Data Center editions. You don’t have this feature with the Standard edition of Windows Server 2008/R2. Domain role: All servers in the…

Introduction You might laugh when you first read the title of this article, but with the Start menu gone in Windows 8, some users might find it difficult to know how to shutdown, restart or even sleep Windows 8 machine. In this article, I will be showing you three different methods to reboot or shutdown your Windows 8 system. Note: This article was written when Windows 8 was still in Consumer Preview build, changes might occur later to the product once it is RTM. With no more Start button  , we don’t have this menu anymore Now we have the below…

Introduction Windows 8 Consumer Preview is a prerelease version of Windows 8 that focuses on people and apps and gives you powerful new ways to use social technologies to connect with the people who are important to you. It’s Windows reimagined. Windows 8 Consumer Preview is built on the rock-solid foundation of Windows 7 and has the security and reliability features you expect from Windows. It’s fast, and it’s made to work on a variety of form factors—especially the new generation of touch devices. Note: This article was written when Windows 8 was still in Consumer Preview build, changes might…

Introduction Windows 8 Consumer Preview is a prerelease version of Windows 8 that focuses on people and apps and gives you powerful new ways to use social technologies to connect with the people who are important to you. It’s Windows reimagined. Windows 8 Consumer Preview is built on the rock-solid foundation of Windows 7 and has the security and reliability features you expect from Windows. It’s fast, and it’s made to work on a variety of form factors—especially the new generation of touch devices. Note: This article was written when Windows 8 was still in Consumer Preview build, changes might…

Introduction In a previous article, Downloading and Installing Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC on Windows 7, I have illustrated to you what Windows XP Mode is all about and from where to download it and how to install it. In this article, I will be showing you how to actually start using Windows XP Mode and installing a legacy application and start using it in Windows 7. As you already know, Windows Virtual PC is the runtime engine for Windows XP Mode to provide a virtual Windows environment for Windows 7. With Windows Virtual PC, Windows XP Mode applications…

Introduction MAC OSX Lion Mountain, a new operating system from Apple which is coming in summer 2012. It will has many of the iOS system features that we already know with iPod, iPhone,iPad. One of these new features that was introduced with iOS 5.0 is iMessage. Now, as a Beta version, iMessage can be installed on MAC OSX Lion. In this article, I will be showing you how to install Messages, which will give you the ability to send unlimited iMessages — including photos, attachments, and more to iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and Mac. From your Mac. Here are the features…

Introduction Creating a new user account is a common operation for any computer being shared by multiple users.In Mac OSX, you have the option to create different types of users. In this article, I will be showing the different account types, and how to create a new user. Open System Preferences. Do this by clicking on the Apple logo   in the top left side of the screen and then click on System Preferences… 2. In System Preferences, under System, click on Users & Groups 3. If the Add (+) button , which is used to add a new user account, is grayed, then…

Introduction With Mac OS X Lion, you can now show the username of the logged in user on the Menu bar, this will help you to quickly switch between users, lock your machine by showing the login window. This how the username will look like on the menu bar, My username is Tarek Majdalani To show the username on the menu bar, follow these steps : Open System Preferences. Do this by clicking on the Apple logo   in the top left side of the screen and then click on System Preference… 2. In System Preferences, under System, click on Users & Groups 3. Inside Users…

Introduction Windows Virtual PC is the latest Microsoft virtualization technology for Windows 7. It is the runtime engine for Windows XP Mode to provide a virtual Windows environment for Windows 7. With Windows Virtual PC, Windows XP Mode applications can be seen and accessed from a Windows 7 desktop. Windows Virtual PC can be installed on Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, and Windows 7 Enterprise. It allows you to run multiple Windows environments such as Windows XP Mode from your Windows 7 desktop. Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 makes it easy to install and run many Windows XP…

Introduction On the 12th of October-2011, Apple released iOS 5.0 . One of the new features in it is wireless syncing. This means you can sync your iPod touch, iPhone, iPad with your computer’s iTunes without the need to connect the iDevice to your computer using the traditional USB cable. In this article, I will be showing you how simply it is to configure Wi-Fi Sync. Wi-Fi syncing requires the following : iOS 5.0 or later iTunes 10.5 or later In this article, I will be setting up Wi-Fi syncing for my iPhone. To setup Wi-Fi syncing, follow the below…

Introduction With Windows 7 and Windows Live Movie Maker, it’s easier than ever to create and share your own movies. Windows Movie Maker has been in every version of Windows since Me till XP and Vista, but it’s not in Windows 7. Now, it’s part of Windows Live Essentials, a free download that also includes tools for photos, instant messaging, email, social networking, and more. Windows Live Essentials 2011 requires the following: Operating system: 32- or 64-bit version of Windows 7, or Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 and the Platform Update for Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008 R2,…

Introduction Like Microsoft Update in Microsoft Operating Systems, MAC OS X as well has a utility to check for updates and upgrade your MAC OS X operating system and 3rd party applications. Software Update is a software tool by Apple Inc. that installs the latest version of Apple software on computers running Mac OS X. It was originally introduced to Mac users in Mac OS 9, and continue to be included with the latest version of OS X, MAC OS X Lion. In this article, I will show you how to : Manually Check for software updates, download and install…

Introduction Apple latest operating system, OS X Lion, introduced over 250 new features. One of these new features is the Launchpad. In this article I will be showing you how to assign a keyboard shortcut to Launchpad, so that you can easily open it. The Launchpad icon looks like this : and it is located inside the Dock by default. Launchpad shows you all of the applications installed on your computer, including applications downloaded from the Mac App Store. To run it, you have to click on its icon inside the Dock. However, Launchpad in OS X Lion does not…

Introduction Mac OS X Lion is exclusively available using the App Store till this moment, this means if you have a Snow Leopard and desired to upgrade to Lion, then you will have to go to the App Store, buy Lion and then download it. You can not purchase an installation DVD from anywhere ( till this moment ). In this article, I will be showing you how to create a bootable installation disc using the image you downloaded from the App store. I personally prefer to have a bootable installation disc, this is useful when I later need to…

Introduction By default, Mac OS X does not display any icon on the desktop. Not even the internal hard disk. In this article, I will be showing how simply you can display Hard Disks on the Mac OS X desktop. As you can see, not a single icon is displayed on the Mac OS X desktop. To display hard disks icons on the desktop, follow the below steps: Launch Finder from the Dock Using the Menu bar, click on Finder then click on Preferences… 3. Under the General tab, you can see that only External disks and CDs, DVDs and iPods are selected by default to be displayed on the…

Introduction On the 20th of July 2011, Apple released Mac OS X 10.7 to the public and it became available on the App Store for only 29.99 $ . If it happens that you bought a new Mac machine between the 6th of June 2011 and the 21st of July, then you are entitled to have MAC OS X Lion for free , as your computer was shipped with OSX Snow Leopard. To upgrade/ Install OS X Lion, you should have the following prerequisites: Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor 2GB of RAM…

Introduction Windows 7, allows you to create multiple user accounts, so that each user can have a separate user account with unique settings and preferences, such as a desktop background or screen saver. User accounts control which files and programs users can access and what types of changes users can make to the computer. To create a new user account, follow the below steps : 1. Click the Start button , then click Control Panel 2. Under the User Accounts and Family Safety category, click on Add or remove user accounts 3. The Manage Accounts window will open, where all the created accounts are…

Introduction HTTPS inspection, is one of the greatest new features in TMG 2010. Prior to TMG, ISA Server was able to perform Inbound HTTPS inspection ( SSL bridging ), however, since the first generation of ISA Server, Outbound HTTPS Inspection was not available. Finally this feature is introduced with TMG 2010. In this article, I will be showing you how to enable and configure HTTPS Inspection. By default, HTTPS Inspection is disabled. To enable it, follow the below steps:  From the Left side node, click on Web Access Policy Then from the right side node, and under the Tasks tab, click on Configure HTTPS…

Introduction TMG 2010 introduced a new feature that has been on the wish list for long time ago. You will find it very usefully when you are trying to troubleshoot an issue with your TMG, trying to trace logs and find where does this or that belong and to which rule. In this article, we are going to explore the Search Feature As your rules number increase, it will be difficult to find which rules contains which element. Previously, with ISA Server, this used to be a headache for any ISA Server administrator, the admin had used to go and…

Introduction Aero Peek is a new feature introduced with Windows 7. It is available with Windows 7 Home Premium Edition, Professional Edition and Ultimate Edition. With Aero Peek you can peek on your desktop or into thumbnail preview of an opened Window on your taskbar. What this feature does is to make all the active windows transparent and you will be able to see/peek your desktop/thumbnail window without minimizing all your currently opened windows. Aero Peek is available when you are using Windows 7 Home Premium Edition, Professional Edition and Ultimate Edition, and are using an Aero theme. Desktop Peek The Aero…

Introduction Windows 7 gives you the option to change the Shutdown button to another function. There are five other actions that can be selected and can replace the Shutdown button. Lets see how we can change this button to another option. Click on Start button Right click on the Shut down button and click on Properties The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties page will open, beside the Power button action, click on the drop down list and you will find the other actions that can be selected and can replace the Shut down button. You can change Shutdown button action to : – Switch user -…

Introduction In this article I will be showing you were you can find your current computer name and how you can change it. By default, when you install Windows 7 and type your username at the time of installation, the computer name would be in this format : USERNAME-PC To change the computer name, log on with an administrator account and then follow the below steps : Click the Start button right-click Computer, and then click Properties. The basic system information page will open, you will find the computer name, under the computer name, domain, and workgroup settings section. As you can…

Another Article is available for Downloading And Installing Microsoft Edge on Windows 7 Introduction The latest Internet Explorer from Microsoft, Internet Explorer 9, was released a couple of days ago. In this article, I will be showing you from where to download it and how to install it. Also I will be showing you some of the new features that IE9 has. Internet Explorer 9 can be installed on the following operating systems : Windows Vista 32-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP 2) or higher Windows Vista 64-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP 2) or higher Windows 7 32-bit RTM…

Introduction Microsoft Security Essentials is a free Antivirus program. It provides real-time protection against viruses, spyware and other malicious software. In this article, I’ll be showing you how to download and install it on Windows 7 using two methods, either directly from the Microsoft Security Essentials website or using Windows Update. If you have Windows 7, and you didn’t install any antivirus software on it, then the Action Center will notify you that you need to install an Antivirus Note : Before installing Microsoft Security Essentials, make sure that you uninstall any Internet security programs from your computer. If you use more than…

Prior to initiating the download and installation process of Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows 7, it is imperative to ascertain whether the service pack is already present on your system. This article aims to guide you through two distinct methods by which you can effectively verify the current status of SP1 on your Windows 7 operating system. It is essential to undertake this preliminary verification step to ensure a seamless and error-free installation process. By confirming the absence or presence of SP1 on your system, you can make informed decisions and proceed with the appropriate steps to either install…

Introduction On February 16-02-2011, Microsoft made Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 available for TechNet and MSDN subscribers. On 22-02-2011, they became publicly available for everybody. In this article, I will be showing you how to download and install Windows 7 SP1, either by using Windows Update or from Microsoft Download Center. Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is an important update that includes previously released security, performance, and stability updates for Windows 7. SP1 also includes new improvements to features and services in Windows 7, such as improved reliability when connecting to HDMI audio devices, printing…

Introduction With TMG Server 2010, upgrading from TMG 2010 Standard Edition to Enterprise Edition is a very easy step. You do not have to uninstall the Standard Edition and then import the policies/configuration that you’ve had exported previously into your newly installed Enterprise Edition. The upgrade process is simply done by entering the Enterprise Edition product key inside the Standard Edition Management console. Let’s see how. I have installed TMG 2010 Standard Edition, and now will upgrade it to Enterprise Edition, to do this, follow the below steps:   Open TMG Server 2010 management console, and from the left pane,…

Introduction In this article, I will be showing you how to slipstream TMG Server 2010 with Service Pack 1. Not only that, but I will continue also to show you how to slipstream Software Update 1 as well. Doing so, the next time you install TMG Server 2010, you won’t have to worry about upgrading it to SP1 and later to SU1. The files required for this article are : Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 Service Pack 1 : You can download TMG 2010 SP1 from this link Software Update 1 for…

Introduction One of the common questions that comes to the mind of any TMG administrator that sits in front of a TMG server that was installed by someone else is “Is this TMG Updated ? Which Service Pack is installed ?” In this article, I will be showing you three different ways that can help you to know which version of TMG you are running. Note : An Updated article is published and can found here : ISA 2004, ISA 2006 and TMG Server 2010 Version Numbers I usually use one of the below three methods to identify the version number of…

Introduction At the time of writing this article, TMG Server 2010 has two major updates; Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Software Update 1 for SP1 (SU 1). In this article, I will be showing you how to install both updates on your TMG Server. Service Pack 1 for TMG 2010 introduced many new features and bug fixes. Shortly after it was released, Microsoft released a new update package for TMG SP1 called Software Update 1 for TMG SP1. This as well introduced new features and bug fixes. Software Update 1 is not a cumulative update, that is it does not…

Introduction After installing TMG on Windows Server, if you ever tried to use Windows Update on the TMG server itself, you will encounter the Error 80072EE72, This is because the Web Proxy settings are not enabled and set on the TMG server. In this article, I will be showing you two methods for fixing this error message. I finished installing TMG on a new server and prior to installing TMG, I made sure to fully patch the server. Then after TMG was installed, I came the next day to install Service Pack 1 for TMG from Windows Update, however ,…

Introduction This is an amazing new utility in Windows 7, it enables users to record their interactions with an application and provide a detailed screen-by-screen view with accompanying information. It really saves times and headache. Why ? If you ever provided support for individuals/companies over phone or e-mail, you would definitely know how its hard sometimes to understand on the client what exactly is the problem he is facing. Well, With Windows 7, your worst nightmare has been solved. This utility not only can be used for reporting issues, but from another side of view, I use it sometimes to…

Introduction One of the most popular Instant Messaging software is Windows Live Messenger ( Previously known as MSN Messenger). Windows 7 by default is installed without Windows Live Messenger. In article, I will be showing you how to download and install Windows Live Messenger on Windows 7. As you can see, the All Programs list does not contain the Windows Live Messenger application shortcut. So to get it, we will need to download and install it. Windows Live Messenger is part of the Windows Live Essentials package. Windows Live Essentials require the following : Operating system: Windows XP with Service Pack…

Introduction Now with Windows 7, you can for free resize a partition, either by shrinking it or extending it. With this feature, you can for example shrink the existing partition from the end of the volume to create new unallocated space that can then be used for a new partition. Let’s see how this is done easily with Windows 7. Imagine you bought a new laptop or a new workstation, and you noticed after you booted your machine that the system has a single partitioned hard disk. What if you want to have multiple partitions, one for the operating system…

Introduction ISA Server 2000/2004/2006 have always been a 32 bit edition software. However, Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 is not supported on a 32bit server operating system and now its natively a 64 bit software and can only be installed on Windows Server 2008 64bit or Windows Server 2008 R2. How about if I want to remotely manage TMG 2010 from a client machine ? Specifically from a 32 bit client machine !! In this article I will be showing you how you can remotely manage TMG 2010 from a 32 bit client using TMG Management Console for x86…

Introduction Forefront Threat Management Gateway has been released to manufacture and now its available for download. Many people already started to test it and some of them have installed the evaluation version in production environment. The common question that I daily receive through email or I see on the forums is “how many days will TMG 2010 evaluation version last for, and how we can upgrade it to the full version ?” In this article, I will be answering these questions and will show you to how to upgrade the evaluation version to the full (RTM) version of TMG 2010.…

Introduction Many programs when they are installed on your PC, they are configured to load themselves into the startup of Windows, so that the moment you boot your machine and Windows starts, they automatically start and most of them can be seen in the notification area when they are loaded. Having plenty of startup programs can decrease the performance of your machine, and its preferred to check what is configured to run on the startup and disable any application that you don’t desire it to run on startup. To disable or re-enable startup programs, follow the below steps : Startup…

Introduction Once you have a successful installation of Forefront TMG 2010, and when the Management Console of TMG is launched, you will have a new wizard opened in a separate page, called the Getting Started Wizard. In this article I will introduce to you the Getting Started Wizard and what it is used for and how you can open it again later at any time. When the TMG 2010 Management Console is opened, the first thing you will notice is the Getting Started Wizard. It is used to configure or modify initial deployment settings. The Getting Started Wizard is compromised of three sub-wizards:…

Introduction Windows 7 has different editions, in this article, I’m going to show you how you can quickly verify which edition/build of Windows 7 you are using. To check which edition or build of Windows 7 you are running, follow the below steps: Click on Start  then in the Search programs and files textbox, type winver, then click Enter The About Windows page will open, and the details of your Windows operating system will be displayed As you can see, I’m running the RTM version of Windows 7 ( build 7600 ), and I’m running Windows 7 Ultimate, without any service pack. You can run the Winver utility…

Introduction Recently I learned a new feature with Windows 7 and I really liked it and wanted to share it with you ! Well … in this article, I will be showing you how you can simply change the Desktop Icons to whatever size you desire…. large or small icons, you choose. Usually, with Windows 7, when you want to change the size of the Desktop icons, you would right click on any empty area on the desktop, and then click on View, and then select the size of the icons, either Large, Medium or Small icons. For example, below is a quick comparison between the three different…

Introduction Remote Desktop Connection is a technology that allows you to sit at a computer and connect to a remote computer in a different location. Remote desktop connection in Windows 7 has been enhanced and now it supports Aero Glass. By default, remote desktop is not enabled in Windows 7, to enable it, follow these steps : Click on Start  then right click on Computer and then click on Properties From the System properties page, on the left pane, click on Remote Settings As you can see, Remote Desktop feature is by default not enabled, and the option Don’t allow connections to this computer is selected by default. To enable…

Introduction Telnet Client is used to connect to remote machine by using the Telnet protocol. For example, I’m an old fashion IT guy, and I still like to configure Cisco Switches/Routers using telnet. If you started to use Windows 7, you will notice that telnet is not enabled by default !! Don’t panic, it is just a matter of few clicks and telnet will be enabled again. Telnet Client allows a computer to connect to a remote Telnet server and run applications on that server. Once logged on, a user is given a command prompt that can be used as…

Introduction 1Everyone of us uses Windows Live Messenger to get connected and communicate with others. With Windows 7, Windows Live Messenger icon is placed on the Task Bar, even when it is minimized. In this article, I will be showing you how to set Windows Live Messenger icon, to get back to the notification area, when the program is running or even when it is minimized, just the way it was with previous versions of Windows By default, this is how Windows Live Messenger looks when it is running or minimized in Windows 7 : and this is where it…

Introduction My first article for Windows 7 was about Installing Windows 7 From a USB Stick, which showed you how to install Windows 7 from a USB drive instead of wasting DVDs. Well, with the world wide release of Windows 7 on the 22nd of October 2009, the Microsoft Store released a new tool and it is called Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool. This tool allows you to create a copy of your Windows 7 ISO file on a USB flash drive or a DVD disc. Note : The current version of this tool is : 1.0.30.0 System Requirements Windows XP…

Introduction Enabling automatic logon means booting up your PC and logging to a user account profile without the need to type a password. I usually set this option on machines where I have startup applications that are needed to run after the computer boots up. With automatic logon enabled, you will no longer see the logon screen after you boot your Windows 7 machine. To enable automatic logon, follow the below steps : Open the User Accounts page, this is done by clicking on Start then inside the search programs and files textbox, type netplwiz then click Enter. It can also be opened by…