Helmers Blog

A customer came to me with the question which of the two does a better job for delivering remote assistance to the end-users : the built in remote assistance function of Windows 7 or the (3rd party tool) VNC Viewer. Because I’m a big fan of the Request Remote Assistance function in Live Messenger for supporting friends and family with their computer issues I advised them to use the default remote assistance.

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Something reached me today via Twitter : How to enable SuperAdmin Mode in Windows 7. It’s really easy.

Just follow the next steps:

1. Create a new folder
2. Right click the folder and name it like this : SuperAdmin.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
3. Press Enter. Now the folder has a new name : SuperAdmin

   

4. When you open the folder you see a sort of super list with all the settings you would like…(see the list below.)

Note : My SuperAdmin mode is inspired by the God Mode which I found at Windows7Themes.net

Today it has exactly been 24 years ago since Microsoft launched it’s first version of the Windows Operating System (pfieww..I was only 9 on that date) : Windows 1.01

Because of this 24th birthday of Windows I would like to share a video with you. And of course, just like most fo the hilarious Microsoft video’s on Youtube, it’s featuring Steve Ballmer who is trying to sell you Windows 1.0! In that time Windows wasn’t much more then a graphical layer of MS DOS.

Windows 1.0 Features

 

Windows 1.0 offers limited multitasking of existing MS-DOS programs and concentrates on creating an interaction paradigm (cf. message loop), an execution model and a stable API for native programs for the future. Due to Microsoft’s extensive support for backward compatibility, it is not only possible to execute Windows 1.0 binary programs on current versions of Windows to a large extent, but also to recompile their source code into an equally functional "modern" application with just limited modifications.[3]

Windows 1.0 is often regarded as a "front-end to the MS-DOS operating system", a description which has also been applied to subsequent versions of Windows. Windows 1.0 is an MS-DOS program. Windows 1.0 programs can call MS-DOS functions, and GUI programs are run from .exe files just like MS-DOS programs. However, Windows .exe files had their own "new executable" (NE) file format, which only Windows could process and which, for example, allowed demand-loading of code and data. Applications were supposed to handle memory only through Windows’ own memory management system, which implemented a software-based virtual memory scheme allowing for applications larger than available RAM.

Because graphics support in MS-DOS is extremely limited, MS-DOS applications have to go to the bare hardware (or sometimes just to the BIOS) to get work done. Therefore, Windows 1.0 included original device drivers for video cards, a mouse, keyboards, printers and serial communications, and applications were supposed to only invoke APIs built upon these drivers. However, this extended to other APIs such as file system management functions. In this sense, Windows 1.0 was designed to be extended into a full-fledged operating system, rather than being just a graphics environment used by applications. Indeed, Windows 1.0 is a "DOS front-end" and cannot operate without a DOS environment (it uses, for example, the file-handling functions provided by DOS.) The level of replacement increases in subsequent versions.

The system requirements for Windows 1.0 constituted CGA/Hercules/EGA (listed as "Monochrome or color monitor"), MS-DOS 3.1, 384K RAM (512KB recommended), and 2 double-sided disk drives or a hard drive.[4]

Windows 1.0 runs a shell program known as MS-DOS Executive. Other supplied programs are Calculator, Calendar, Cardfile, Clipboard viewer, Clock, Control Panel, Notepad, Paint, Reversi, Terminal, and Write.

Windows 1.0 does not allow overlapping windows. Instead all windows are tiled. Only dialog boxes can appear over other windows.

Windows 1.0 executables, while having the same .exe extension and initial file header as MS-DOS programs, do not contain the so-called MS-DOS stub which prints the "This program requires Microsoft Windows" message and exits when the program is run outside of Windows. Instead, the file header was formatted in such a way as to make DOS reject the executable with a "program too large to fit in memory" error message.

From the beginning, Windows was intended to multitask programs (although this originally only applied to native applications and for many versions the multitasking was co-operative, rather than preemptive).

Originally Windows was designed to have the pull-up menus at the bottom of windows, as it was common with the DOS programs of the time; however, this was changed before the first release.

Source : Wikipedia

Almost 14 days ago you could read that I passed the first MCITP Windows 7 exam, just today Prometric published the results of the second (and last) MCITP Windows 7 exam. I also passed this one!  

The first MCITP exam doesn’t give you a new credential at once (at least not at the moment), but with passing the second one I can add the MCITP Windows 7 Enterprise Desktop Administrator to the list of Microsoft credentials.

UPDATE (Nov, 20th) : The 686 is also available in the MCP Transcript…

A new credential has been added to my transcript (bringing it to a total of 19 credentials)  And both the exams also show up on the Exam List (pff..already passed 27 MCP exams)

To see all my exams, just go to this MCP Website and use these credentials :

Transcript ID: 656731 Accesscode: hzandbergen

Windows 7 is available for a couple of weeks now. Are you already running Windows 7? Maybe you are still using Windows Vista, or even Windows XP. I’m curious what OS you’re using right now..please leave your vote! And if you’re not running Windows 7 already, why not? Will you be running Windows 7 in the (near) future? Why not?

What OS are you running right now?

• Windows 7 (72%, 187 Votes)
• Windows XP (11%, 29 Votes)
• Windows Vista (9%, 24 Votes)
• Other (leave a comment) (8%, 21 Votes)

Total Voters: 261