Change Windows 7 logon background

Want to change Windows 7’s logon background?  Here’s a cool little program….Link

Windows 7 Upgrade Chart

Windows 7 Tour

Here’s a Secret – I won’t Share

I teach my students worker ethics and we constantly go over the privileges they will one day have as IT professionals.  After doing this for 20+ years, I can honestly say that I have been exposed (by users) to information that I won’t give out.  To clarify, I have not snooped or abused my privileges.   No matter how tempting it has been, I just can’t do it and I tell my students not to do it.  So how may IT personnel do?   Around 35% according to a survey.  1 in 3.   The reason privileges are set up is just for this reason.  Hopefully when IT personnel move up the ‘food chain’, they will have self discipline enough not to abuse their power.  With the ‘grape-vine’ effect, they will eventually be found out if they tell someone.  Here’s a good article on this topic.

Policies and Procedures should be put into place to discipline IT personnel if this happens.   When exposed to a user’s data or information (on screen or when over hearing information); an IT Professional should never repeat the information seen or heard.

Image Converter

36-Image Converter is a very good application for converting, resizing, special effects and other tools including transparency for your photos.

Download Here

Driver Links

Computer Hope has been around for a while.  There links to drivers is an excellent resource to find what you need.  Link

Microsoft IT Academy Student Pass – Free

Microsoft’s DreamSpark is one of the best offerings for Students.  Recently we worked with Microsoft and created Live email accounts for our students.   The DreamSpark account was free and required only an accreditation verification and coordinating with Microsoft.   Currently DreamSpark offers :

Visual Studio 2008
SQL Server 2008
XNA Game Studio
Robotics Developer Studio 2008
Windows Server 2008 AND Server 2003
and much more…..

In March 2009 Students were given free vouchers to certify as a Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist.

Now Microsoft is offering a free pass for Students to the Microsoft IT Academy Student online learning center.

Want to participate, contact the IT department at your Technology Center.

Run Line Commands for XP, Vista or 7

Here are a few commands that can be ran from the run line for quick access or shortcut creation.

appwiz.cpl Opens – Add/Remove Programs
calc Opens – The Calculator
certmgr.msc Opens – Certificate Manager
charmap Opens – Character Map
chkdsk Checks the the primary drive
chkdsk /f Checks the the primary drive
chkdsk /r Checks the the primary drive
cleanmgr Opens – Windows Disk Cleaner
cmd Opens – Command Prompt Window
compmgmt.msc Opens – Computer Management
control Opens – Control Panel
control.exe folders Opens – Folder Options
control.exe netconnections Opens – NetWork connections
control.exe schedtasks Sends you to Scheduled tasks
desk.cpl Opens – Properties for the Desktop
devmgmt.msc Device Manager
dfrg.msc Opens – Windows Defrag
dxdiag Directx diagnostics
eudcedit Program for creating user defined characters
explorer Opens – Windows Explorer
iexplore Opens – Internet Explorer
firewall.cpl Opens – Windows Firewall
inetcpl.cpl Opens – Internet Settings
intl.cpl Opens – International Settings
magnify Opens – Magnifying Utility
main.cpl Opens – Mouse settings
mmc Opens – Microsoft Management Console
mmsys.cpl Opens – Sound Settings
mrt Opens – Malware Removal Tool
msconfig Opens – System configuration program
msinfo32 Opens – System Information
mspaint Opens – Paint
narrator Opens – Microsoft Reader
notepad Opens – NotePad
ntbackup Opens – the BackUp Utility
osk Opens – On Screen Keyboard
perfmon Opens – Performance Monitor
regedit Opens – Registry edit
restore Opens – Restore windows where you can choose rstrui.exe application
schedlgu.txt Opens – the scheduled tasks log
services.msc Opens – Services
sfc /scannow Scans Computer for missing or wrong version of system files
sndrec32 Opens – Windows Sound Recorder
syncapp Let’s you Create a Briefcase
sysdm.cpl Opens – System Settings
sysedit Opens – System Editor
taskmgr Opens – Taskmanager
wiaacmgr Opens – Windows Picture Scanner
winver Shows you the Windows Version
wordpad Opens – WordPad
wscui.cpl Windows Security Center
wupdmgr Opens – Windows Update
%systemroot%\system32\dllcache\wab.exe Opens – Windows Address book
%SystemRoot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe Opens – Windows System Restore

Internet Protection for Children

PCSecurity has a great review on DansGuardian.  DansGuardian is a freeware application that helps to protect children on the internet.  Link

Comodo System Cleaner – New Interface and Features

Comodo System Cleaner reviewed earlier on this blog is an excellent cleaner for your computer.   The newest version offers even more features than before and keeps your computer running top notch.  Comodo System Cleaner

See the Full Comparison Here

Software Update Notifier

We have featured both Secunia and SUMo in previous post.  Here’s a nice low impact program to check common programs on your computer.  Update Notifier

Windows 7 Upgrades Coming to TTC Shelbyville

With the beta testing of Windows 7 by the Computer Information Technology class in VirtualBox and testing by Dawn, Pat, Mike and myself; this fall TTC Shelbyville will migrate over 50% of the computers to Windows 7.  Testing will continue in the Industrial Maintenance and CIT classrooms.

milw0rm Shows Why You Need to Keep Updated

The site milw0rm has information about recent security exploits and information.  Notice that most aren’t operating systems but are program related.