Walker News » Software

How To Download Original Windows 7 ISO Image And Official SHA1 Checksum?

Walker — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:53:37 +0000

Let’s say you have a genuine Windows 7 product key and a damaged Windows 7 DVD (or later the Windows 7 SP1 ISO image that you haven’t own except the faulty pre-service pack DVD).

Without a TechNet subscription, you might think of getting Windows 7 ISO image from unofficial sites or P2P networks. But, how to prove that is original untouched Windows 7 ISO image?

Well, if we believe that everything on TechNet website is trustful and free of errata, then you can confirm the Windows 7 ISO image file integrity by comparing the image file SHA1 / CRC checksum calculated by your favorite Windows file verification software (e.g. HashCheck Shell Extension or digestIT 2004) with the official checksum published on TechNet site – if matched, then the ISO image is considered genuine, clean, not tampered :-):

Actually, why can’t Microsoft open the access of official Windows 7 ISO image download link to general public since it is secured by product key and activation, just like Office 2010?

Hotkey To Select Alternate Boot Drive Of VMware Virtual Machine

Walker — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:42:10 +0000

There is a hotkey or keyboard shortcut to select alternate boot devices of VMware virtual machine via Boot Menu, i.e. without having to change default boot drive in BIOS of the said VM.

Again, however, if the VMware software (in my test case, this is VMware Server 2.0.2) is running on a powerful host, it will be hard to send the hotkey successfully to virtual machine during its boot-up process (as the time for it to accept keyboard shortcut lapses at a glimpse):

If you’re fast and the virtual machine can senses the ESC keypress for Boot Menu, then you’ll see this alternate boot devices selection:

Otherwise, refers to previous post on how to configure VMware virtual machine to automatically boots into BIOS setup screen. Have fun.

How To Rename Virtual Machine On VMware Server 2?

Walker — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:10:19 +0000

Ever wonder how to change the name of an existing virtual machine on VMware Server 2.0.2? Well, it is always not too hard, if you have to give the virtual name a new name that describe it better :-)

1) Connect to VMware Server 2 with your favorite web browser.

Says the VMware Server v2 is running on remote host with IP 192.168.1.111 and default setup, then points the web browser to:

https://192.168.1.111:8333/ui/#

2) After login, click to select the virtual machine of interested in the Inventory pane on the left:

3) On the right pane, look for Commands module and select “Configure VM”.

3) In the VM Configuration dialog box, go to General tab and there you can change the virtual machine name. After clicking OK button, the old name on Inventory pane automatically refreshed to new one, as seen on Win7-IE8.

How To Boot VMware Virtual Machine Into BIOS Setup Screen?

Walker — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:20:46 +0000

Similar to a physical IBM-compatible PC, it is possible to access VMware virtual machine BIOS configuration utility, if you have to do so.

Using VMware Server 2.0.2 Build 203138 as reference, there are two ways to boot its virtual machine into Phoenix BIOS Setup Utility mode:

Manually press F2 to enter BIOS setup

The chance you won’t get this work is high if VMware Server 2 is running on a high performance machine :-)

As shown, you can press F2 shortly after the virtual machine powered on or soon after it boots up.

Auto boot into BIOS setup mode on next machine boot

This great alternative allows one to access the virtual machine BIOS utility at ease.

The configuration set virtual machine to automatically boots into BIOS setup screen on next boot-up (once only):

1) Uses web browser to connect and login to VMware Server 2.

2) On the left pane is Inventory (of virtual machines). Click on the one of interested to select it. Next, at the right pane, locate Commands module and choose “Configure VM”:

3) After the VM Configuration dialog box appears, go to Power tab and look for “Bios Setup” – there is an option that said “Enter the BIOS setup screen the next time this virtual machine boots”.

Tick the check-box and click OK button to save settings. Reboot or power on the said virtual machine and wait for the result :-)

How To Use SC Command To Disable Windows 7 Beep Sound?

Walker — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:18:37 +0000

Yes, it is certainly possible to just turn off or disable Windows 7 beep tone service without mute the System Sounds entirely as what was described in previous post.

Here, you need to type a bit instead of using mouse click. The sc program bundled with Windows 7 (as well as earlier Windows OS) allows one to interact and configure Windows service on command prompt:

Open an elevated command prompt window to execute the following sc command examples.

To check current configuration of beep sound service (as shown in the screenshot above):

sc qc beep

To check current status of beep tone service:

sc query beep

To temporarily disable / turn off Windows 7 beep sound:

sc stop beep

For permanent solution, i.e. to turn off or disable the Windows 7 beep tone persistently across each reboot:

sc config beep start= disabled

Again, I suggest disabling it temporarily whenever it is disgusting or annoying. If you find it reasonable to turn it off permanently, just do so with the sc command instead of breaking the system speaker physically :-)

Uses QuickOffice S60 Freeware To Read Microsoft Office Document On Nokia Symbian Phone

Walker — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:26:17 +0000

The latest QuickOffice 6.2 freeware for S60v3 and S60v5 is available as a Microsoft Office viewer, allows one to open and read Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint document files on Nokia / Symbian smartphone.

According to the official site, QuickOffice 6.2 supports Office 97, 2000, XP, 2003, and 2007. In the test using Nokia 5800, however, I am able to open and read Office 2010 Word document saved in its native file format (docx) too, except for the one protected with a password to open.

Note, it is certainly fine to use Office 2010 to save password protected Word / Excel document in 97-2003 file format (doc), as it can be open and read on QuickOffice 6.2!

I reckon this is a good alternative to keep read-only sensitive information on Nokia smartphone if I am not using Nokia inbuilt security features (e.g. secure memory card with password).

Best of all, the QuickOffice File Manager is able to open zip file as well as extract (by copy function) one file at a time from the zip file, navigate to system folders (those are hidden in Nokia File Manager), well integrated with Mail for Exchange (allows one to directly open supported Microsoft Office documents in emails), display simple file properties (i.e. date/time and file size), file sorting, etc.

If you’re looking for a Microsoft Office viewer freeware for S60v3 or S60v5, go to get one at this QuickOffice Pro Viewer official download site (if edit function is required, then go to purchase the Premium edition).

How To Use AlternateReader On Touchscreen Phone?

Walker — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:00:18 +0000

The tips of using AlternateReader on Nokia 5800 is on YouTube, but if you can’t follow my lame video guide featuring silence of me, then here you go.

As mentioned in previous post, AlternateReader is an open-source DJVU and PDF reader freeware for S60v3, S60v3 FP1/FP2, and S60v5 (a.k.a. Symbian OS 9.1, 9.2/9.3, and 9.4)

Technically, S60 or Series 60 User Interface is a software platform runs on Symbian OS.

Tips of using AlternateReader on a touchscreen smartphone

Note, AlternateReader takes time to open and display a page with graphic or image, as a result of low power mobile phone processor.

If so happen the first page of PDF e-book featuring a graphical cover page, then please be patient for the PDF reader freeware to display the content.

1) After installing AlternateReader, you can open the PDF document from the inbuilt Nokia File Manager.

2) After opening PDF document, click Options and choose “Full screen mode”. Then, tap on the touchscreen without release it for 3-5 seconds or until the context menu pops up and choose “Fit width” – this give you the best reading experience, as the page is fully maximized at best resolution the phone hardware can provide.

The pops up context menu featuring options for “go to page”, exit, normal mode, zoom in/out, open file, etc.

3) The magic of single tap and double tap:

When you’re reading on the top of page, single tap on the bottom of touchscreen is to move page down by one screen.
While the reader rendering the middle of page, single tap on the top of touchscreen is to move the page up by one screen.
To read previous page, move the page up to the top and then double tap on the top-right corner of the touchscreen.
To read next page, move the page down to the bottom and double tap on the bottom-right corner of the page

4) Slide up and down on the touchscreen for page scrolling – that is intuitive.

What’s next? Go to download and install the open-source DJVU and PDF reader freeware for S60v5 (linked in previous post) – try it and you’ll like it too :-)