Microsoft Security Essentials Beta (First Looks)

Its been in the news since November, but its finally here. The public beta of Microsoft’s new free security offering, known as Microsoft Security Essentials, Codename Morro. It is intended to replace Windows Live OneCare.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free security offering that’s intended to replace Windows Defender and Windows Live OneCare. It offers real time protection and both antivirus and antispyware. Therefore, as you can guess, it was at very high demand.

It was released this morning as limited public beta to the first 75,000 people. I was able to grab a copy just a few minutes ago and install it on my Windows 7 RC system. The servers were extremely slow probably because of demand and the very small 4.7 MB download went no higher than 10 KB/s. To get it, you need to sign into Microsoft Connect with your Windows Live ID, then answer a quick survey. "This beta is available only to customers in the United States, Israel (English only), People’s Republic of China (Simplified Chinese only) and Brazil (Brazilian Portuguese only)" according to the beta site.

View details in this flash slideshow. Having trouble viewing it? Click here to view the full album (Picasa Web Albums).

Overall, this is an excellent new product and is likely to trigger some competition with the other free security products like AVG. It is based off of Windows Live OneCare, which has a reputation of having low false positives and strong new detection rates.

Being free and very light is already amazing. The scan took no more than 4.6 MB of RAM. However, I noticed that a SYSTEM process taking up almost 30-50 MB of RAM was always running and this was part of the program’s services. When I ended this process, Security Essentials gave an alert that the service was stopped. The process is MsMpEng.exe which is called AntiMalware Service Executable. In task manager, you need to show processes from all users to see this. The program overall is very resource friendly compared to other security products.

Update 6/26: I ran a full scan of my system (including both operating system partitions) and it scanned well over 2 million items and took 3.5 hours. If I recall correctly, my Windows Defender scan I ran in December 2008 when I only had one operating system took longer than that to scan around 600,000 items. In my experiences with MSE, it is faster than Defender.

The product, especially the About Window and the Settings tab looks very much like Windows Defender (Windows 7 version).

Overall, I’m very impressed by this new product. It would be nice however if they would bring back the Software Explorer from Windows Defender for XP and Vista.

My computer was not infected so I didn’t get a chance to test out the removal. While this is a great new product, I cannot place any recommendations just yet as there has not been any thorough testing for this beta product just yet for factors such as detection rates. It is likely to be similar to Windows Live OneCare, but there are no guarantees. However, I believe that this could be a great new product that could trigger some competition.

MSE also updates like Defender. Definitions are received through Windows Update. If will also disable Windows Defender after installing. You could turn it back on if you want but there isn't much benefit to that since both probably use the same engine. You could turn it on just to use Software Explorer if you are using XP or Vista, then turn if back off so your system performance won't be affected much.

Want to try it for yourself?

Microsoft Security Essentials

Keep in mind that this is BETA software.

Update 6/24: One day after the beta release, the 75,000 download cap has been reached and Microsoft is no longer accepting any more new downloads.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Security,Essentials,Morro

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is Live!

After several months of testing, Windows Vista SP2 is finally available for Live download both via Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center.

It requires Service Pack 1 installed. The download size is around 350 MB (32-bit) and 600 MB (64-bit) at Microsoft Download Center, so prepare for a long download time if you don't have a really fast internet. The size is 43 MB (32-bit) and 60 MB (64-bit) on Windows Update. It says the hundred MB but when I downloaded it, it only downloaded around 40 MB.*
* These values were received from MSDN. I estimated that it only downloaded so much because of the time it took to download in relation to my bandwidth speed.

Download Links from Download Center:
32-bit
64-bit
DVD ISO
Be sure you have Windows Vista Service Pack 1 installed first.
I recommend getting it from Windows Update as the size is smaller because Windows Update only downloads what your computer needs and therefore is more efficient. However, if you are installing for a computer without internet connection or for multiple computers, the Download Center is the way to go.

Changes in Windows Vista Service Pack 2:

• Windows Search 4.0.
• Support for Bluetooth 2.1.
• Data recording on Blu-ray media.
• Simpler WiFi configuration with the Windows connect now ( WCN ).
• Better resuming for active WiFi connections.
• exFAT file system now supports UTC timestamps, so files can synchronize over different time zones.
• Supports CCID / ICCD smart cards.
• Supports 64 bit VIA CPUs.
• Better audio and video performance for HD streaming.
• Better Windows Media Center ( WMC ) for content protection on TV.
• Power Management is 10% more efficient on some configurations.

Similar to Service Pack 1, don't expect too many features, if any even apply to you. Most of these can be downloaded as separate updates. For example, Windows Search 4.0 was already pushed as a update through Windows Update months ago.

Note that this update does NOT include Internet Explorer 8.

That's all folks for today! Please comment on tech as we need comments to improve on the tech guide. Don't hesitate to ask any questions. Thanks!
By - WinTechpedia™ 2009 Contributors

11 Totally Free Apps You Should Try

Wondering what software you should try? Well, you’ve come to the right place. These are names of 11 free ones we recommend. These selections are solely based on our opinions. If you have a program that you recommend, leave a comment in the comments section. Here they are in alphabetical order. The following are mainly for Microsoft Windows. Check their website for system requirements. Some programs might not be compatible with 64-bit operating systems. See the publisher’s site for details. We are not recommending any antimalware program or browser add-on here. All features we mention here are available in the product’s free version.

7-Zip:

File Manager and Compression: Having trouble opening .rar? Don’t want to spend so much on programs like WinZip and WinRAR? Try 7-Zip! This free and open source utility is simple, yet extremely powerful. Unpack a variety of different file types including 7Z, ISO, RAR, ZIP, and much more. Create archives, even SFX (self extracting) and password protected ones. It can also be used as a powerful file manager. Windows only with a command line port for Mac OS X and Linux. Read our post on 7-Zip for more details. Alternatives include IZArc. Paid alternatives include WinZip and WinRAR.

CCleaner:

Computer Optimization: Too much junk on your computer? Not sure whats safe to delete? The freeware CCleaner does it all for you. Check a few boxes, then click Analyze and Clean. That’s it. You might be surprised how much you can clean. Be careful with the areas marked Advanced. Leave them alone if you don’t know what you’re doing. CCleaner also includes an uninstaller, startup manager, system restore, registry cleaner, and more. Read out post on CCleaner for more details. Note: Like many programs, by default during installation, a box for Install Yahoo! Toolbar to run CCleaner from browser is checked. If you do not wish to have Yahoo! Toolbar, like me, simply uncheck the box.

Digsby: 

Multi-Protocol Chat Client: Forget those single protocol clients and go with something that can connect to them all and more! Digsby stands out of them all, not only because its completely free, but it has email notification and social networking newsfeed built in! Compose email right from the interface in the chat windows, elegant tabbed interface with drag and drop to new windows or rearrange, set social networking status, and much much more! Other features include quick reply notification, full log viewer, merged contacts, and more. Its free and ad free!
Note: In order to get funding for the development of this ad free program, Digbsy’s main installer uses a third-party installer known as InstallIQ. This offers a lot of useless junkware. Simply press Decline if you do not wish to have the extra software. You do NOT have to press Accept on anything but the one that is for Digsby itself. Alternatively, you may use another installer (not third party) which is found by clicking on the "here” button in the fine text after clicking the operating system where it says if you have trouble. Or you can click here to download the alternate installer right now. Read about this alternate installer and the program at my review of Digsby here. Read about their revenue methods here. Currently Windows only. Alternatives include Pidgin and Trillian. Paid alternatives include Trillian Pro.

Gadwin PrintScreen:

Screenshot Utility: Sure, you can press Print Screen then paste it into programs like Paint, but thats way too slow and inefficient. Windows Vista and Windows 7 include a Screen Snippet tool but its still not very efficient. Gadwin PrintScreen is here. The free version doesn’t have an editor but you can set it to automatically open your favorite image editor such as GIMP or Paint.NET. Attractive interface and powerful features. Paid Pro version which does have an editor available too. Paid alternatives include Techsmith SnagIt.

GIMP:

Image Manipulation Tool: Want Photoshop? Don’t want to spend so much? Try the free and open source GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)! This program lets you touch up images and add special cool effects to it. It might be confusing at first, but its very easy to use. Easily create animated .gif images. There are way too many features to explain them all. Try it for yourself and find out! Great free alternative to Photoshop. Alternatives include Paint.NET. Paid alternatives include Adobe Photoshop.

Google Earth: 

Virtual Earth Viewer: Love traveling and exploring new places? Google has created an amazing and popular program known as Google Earth. This free program lets you view aerial images of the Earth with some 3D building models as well as street view! Thats not all. You can also go on a Flight Stimulator, Sky Mode, and more! Version 5.0 adds going underwater and Google Mars as well as Historic View! This program requires a lot of RAM especially video RAM. If you don’t meet high Video RAM, it will still work, however the oceans will not be animated. Even if you don’t meet the top notch requirements (like me, I don’t meet video RAM), just meet the minimum requirements, and the program should be very enjoyable. Like many Google products, they have a tradition of easter eggs and April Fools pranks (such as CADIE, which was actually quite fun). Can you find them? Pro version designed by commercial use available too.

Mozilla Firefox: 

Web Browser: Award winning browser that gives you security, speed, and full customization. Thousands of add-ons to customize your experience. Want a feature or looks? Maybe there’s an add-on or theme for that, such as the new Personas add-on! Dozens of security features such as Instant Web ID. Hundreds of more features, such as the Awesome bar. Type any part of anything and it will search for history, bookmarks, and if you hit enter from there and its not a complete URL, it will search on the default engine like other browsers, however, your term is a keyword, so if you type in for example, weather it will automatically go to weather.com skipping the search results. While it might not be as fast as some other browsers, we would prefer a bunch of unobtrusive features over a slight speed boost any day. Alternatives include Opera and Google Chrome.

Revo Uninstaller:

Clean Uninstaller: You might be asking. What’s the point of this? An uninstaller? Erm.. doesn’t Windows have this already? Wrong. Programs, especially security programs, are a pain to uninstall. They want you to think that they have fully uninstalled but is that true? Revo Uninstaller now only runs the program’s built in uninstaller, it also runs a scan of your registry and computer for any remaining files. Then you can choose which registry entries or files to delete. A system restore point is always made beforehand. Very efficient and powerful. This program also comes with a startup manager, traces cleaner, tools manager, unrecoverable secure delete tool, and more.

Sandboxie:

Isolated Sandbox Environment: Run programs. Test programs. Without ever making any permanent changes to your computer. Integrating with Windows Explorer’s right click menu you can run any program in Sandboxie where it will write to data to a sandbox environment. Easily delete this data at any time. Very useful program. Unlike virtualization tools, this only runs one program in a sandbox rather than a whole new operating system. After 30 days using the free version, you will see a nag screen for the paid version however you can continue using the program normally. Programs running in Sandbox are marked by [#] in the titlebar. You can even run .exe installers in Sandbox to install onto Sandbox to try some programs. Plus version available.

 

Sun xVM VirtualBox:

Virtualization Tool: Need to virtualize an operating system? Want to test a new operating system without partitioning and dual booting? Well, there are many virtualization choices out there, but this one stands out, not only because its completely free and open source, but the performance is great. While it might not run as great as the pricey VMware, its free! Multi-platform both as the host and the guest system. Run multiple operating system on top of your main (host) one. Very easy to configure. Test programs on other operating systems in a mostly isolated environment. Note: Like all virtualization tools, even VMware, this will not support the Windows Aero interface available in Windows Vista and Windows 7 because the virtualized video card does not support the WDDM Driver and DirectX 9.0 (some tools like VMware support DX9 but not WDDM). Alternatives include the free VMware Server. Paid alternatives include VMware Workstation.

Credit for the following screenshot goes to Sun Microsystems.

VLC Media Player:

Media Player: Ever have trouble playing media files of certain file types like .ogg. Need a simple media player? The free open source VLC Media Player is here to help. Play nearly every single media file type. The program is very simple. Opening file types can be a bit harder than typical media players. It can be skinned however I will warn that the behavior is completely unpredictable when you do so. But this is a wonderful media player that is worth a try!

So there you have it. 11 programs for Microsoft Windows and possibly other systems too that we urge you to try. Got a program that you want us to try and perhaps blog about? Leave a comment in the comments section or contact us through the contact form. I have personally tested all of the above software and they all work perfectly. Performance varies depending on your system specifications.

Technorati Tags: WinTechpedia,Free,Apps,Programs,Microsoft,Windows,Try

Which Browser Will You Choose?

We use web browsers every day. Most of you are probably using one right now! There are so many to choose from so obviously I cannot compare them all. I have taken the 5 most popular ones and listed out the pros and cons. This comparison refers to the latest stable release unless otherwise stated. Safari 4 Beta is reviewed rather than Safari 3 because the main download of Safari on the website is version 4, not 3.

Which browser will you choose? The blue e, the fox hugging the earth, the blue compass, the colorful orb, or the red O?

THE PROS AND CONS OF EACH

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 (Windows only)

Pros:

• Accelerators. Highlight any word or phrase, search that term right away through the special menu.
• Web Slices. More than just RSS Feeds.
• Domain Highlighting
• inPrivate Browsing
• inPrivate Blocking: Possible to block certain tracking elements such as some ads
• Faster than older versions and on some pages, other browsers
• Malware and Phishing Filters (SmartScreen Filter)
• Large collection of add-ons, toolbars, accelerators, and more at the IE Addons site
• New Session Mode. Two sessions do not share cookies so you can log on to multiple accounts
• Relative Tab with Colors
• Search Suggestions with images and description in some cases
• Tab Showcase
• New Tab Page
• Passes Acid2 (last major browser to do so)
• Session Store (finally!)
• Isolated Tab Environment
• Easier Add-on Management
• Built in Source Viewer (finally) with tag colors rather than one using Notepad
• Nicely designed RSS Feed viewer
• Much faster than previous versions
  

Cons:

• Quite slow on cold starting up, but browsing is quite fast
• Tabs take a bit longer to load
• Main target of hackers
• Following older IE versions, update cycle is slow including patching critical security issues
• Too tightly integrated with operating system
• Fails miserably at Acid3
• ActiveX rather than plugins (all other browsers use plugins and ActiveX have many security risks)
• Add-ons are All Users rather than Single User. Requires Administrative Privileges
• No Download Manager
• No Download pause and resume
  

Mozilla Firefox 3.0 (Windows, Mac, and Linux with variations available for other platforms)

Pros:

• Fully open source
• Easily modify the configuration through about:config
• King of customization. Fully customizable with a collection of over 5000 add-ons and themes at Mozilla Add-ons: Anything from ad blocking, script blocking, site rating, file hosting download delay time skipping to domain highlighting. Whatever you want. There’s a good change, someone made an add-on for it. Want to make Firefox look like IE, Chrome, Safari, or something completely random? Maybe there’s a theme for it!
• Instant Web ID. With one click on the favicon, all the page’s security info can be viewed.
• Phishing and Malware Filters
• Multi-Platform and Platform Look and Feel
• “Awesome Bar” searching bookmarks, history, and also makes “smart” website decisions when typing a term: Autocomplete and Tagging
• Library of Bookmarks and History. Tag Bookmarks to easily search
• Smart Search Keywords. Assign keywords to search engines (like a simple w to wikipedia), then type in w and then your term into the location bar to search. Works like the Omnibar in Chrome.
• Inline Spell Checking
• Session Restore
• Set individual settings per site, such as cookies, image loading, Javascript, etc…
• Instant Find and Quick Find
• Elegant Autoscrolling and Smoothscrolling
• Available in 60 languages (Even more being added!)
• Windows only: Automatically scan files with your anti-virus software
• Easy to use download manager with pause and resume
• Very fast update cycle. One of the fastest in patching security holes.
• Easy to use download manager with pause and resume
• Error Console
• Passes Acid2
• Firefox 3.5 only: Private Browsing

Cons:

• Does not pass Acid3 Web Standards test yet (3.0 scores 71/100 and 3.5 scores 93/100)
• No zoom percentage counting. Only Zoom in, Zoom out, and Reset.

Apple Safari 4 (Windows and Mac)

Pros:

• Elegant new tab page
• Looks like correct platform (Windows looks like Windows)
• Drag and drop tabs with visual eye candy
• Toolbar colors change with Windows Aero color (Windows Vista and Windows 7)
• Minimalistic interface. Looks like Google Chrome but with an option to show menubar if needed
• Coverflow for Bookmarks
• Snapback: Go back to search results page
• Collections Library: History, RSS, and Bookmarks
• First Browser to feature Private Browsing
• Passes Acid1, Acid2, and Acid3 Web Standards Test
• Malware and Phishing Filter
  

Cons:

• Requires an abnormally large amount of system resources especially video (for Coverflow despite the fact that iTunes coverflow works fine on old hardware). This may cause major lags with the visual effects. Safari 3 was much lighter on system resources.
  
• Many text forms fail to submit.
• No zoom percentage count

Google Chrome 1.0 (Windows only. Mac and Linux pending)

Pros:

• Currently the fastest stable release browser available.
• Like all Google Products, simplicity.
• Easily drag and drop tabs
• Isolated Tab AND plugin Environment
• Omnibar saves space although searches take a bit longer
• Incognito Window (Private Browsing)
• No obtrusive download manager.
• New Tab Page showing recent pages
• Easily create application shortcuts
• Powerful DOM Inspector built in
• Bookmarks Manager
• Malware and Phishing Filter.
• Mostly passes Acid2
• Chrome 2.0 only: Drag a tab to the side and it will attach to side (like Windows 7 Aero Snap).
  

Cons:

• No RSS Feed Support in current version.
• Editing text fields often fail to submit properly: More common that in Safari.
• No native plugin support.
• No extension support.
• The download statusbar is hard to use if you're used to other browsers. Previously, download stops when closing tab. Luckily, this doesn't happen anymore. However, download continues in the background with no indication of the status unless you press Download from the menu.
  
• No download pause and resume
• Sends data with unique ID back to Google. Not optional.
• The domain highlighting puts emphasis on domain AND sub-domain, which defeats the purpose of it.
• No Autoscrolling (middle click scrolls up and down)- Introduced in v2.0
• No Full Screen Mode. Yes the toolbars take up very little space, but still. - Introduced in v2.0
• Does not completely pass Acid2 test pixel by pixel. Small artifact to the left.
• Does not pass Acid3 yet.
• No option to show menu bar, even if you want it
• No zoom percentage count.

Opera 9.6 (all platforms)
Note: Not all features mentioned here are available for all versions especially on portable devices

Pros:

• Elegant Special Effects
• Two default themes: Opera and Windows Native
• Tab Previews (Mouse over tab)
• Panel Sidebar with buttons for History, Bookmarks, Widgets, etc…
• Widgets: Little Gadgets showing various information
• Closed source makes it one of the most secure browsers
• Built in mail client and IRC Chat
• BitTorrent Downloading integrated
• Trash can to reopen closed tabs, restore notes, widgets, etc…
• One click detailed site info including downloaded time, cache file, security, number of elements, scripts, and more
• Detailed element loading status on URL bar
• Many community created themes to choose from to change Opera's appearance
• Wand: Autocomplete not only Passwords but Forms too
• Rewind and Fastforward. Go back to first or last page visited on tab
• Speed Dial. Instant Access to 9 selected sites
• Useful Mouse Gestures
• Error Console
• Identify as another browser like Firefox and IE. Tricks various scripts that identify browsers however this does NOT run as another browser engine. Its still Opera
• Passes Acid2.
• Opera 10 only: Passes Acid3
• Malware and Phishing Filter
  

Cons:

• No add-on support at all. Not likely to receive them either.

The following chart is a comparison of some major features built in. Does not include add-ons that can add the feature. Refers to latest stable version except for Safari.

	IE 8	Firefox 3	Safari 4	Chrome 1	Opera 9
Domain Highlight	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Private Browsing	Yes	Firefox 3.5	Yes	Yes	No
Phishing Filter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Malware Filter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Acid2 Pass	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Acid3 Pass	No	No	Yes	No	Opera 10
Session Restore	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Download Manager	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Add-ons	Yes	Yes	Mac only	No	No
Themes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
RSS Feed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes

You’ve seen 5 of the most popular browsers. Now, which one is your favorite. Cast your vote below!

Windows 7 RC is now available!

Many of you probably know that the Release Candidate version of Windows 7 is now available. You can easily download it until July 2009, so you have plenty of time. The RC expires on June 1, 2010, however, it will be shutting down bi-hourly (every 2 hours) starting March 1, 2010. You will get an alert 2 weeks before this occurs. Read about the installation here.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Page

To receive your product key, click here, then scroll down and select the appropriate info. Then log into your Windows Live Account, fill out the application (if you haven't already done so in other places) to get your product key. Or you can just get the list of keys here, since there is only a limited number of keys meaning everyone is basically getting the same keys, just like with the beta in January 2009.

But for those of you that don't want to use an ActiveX Control to download here are some direct download links from Microsoft. These DO support Download Accelerators, so you can perform multi-part downloads. Use these links to download if you do not wish to use the ActiveX Downloader and/or wish to use other browsers (other than IE) and/or Download Accelerators.

Download 32-bit (x86) Windows 7 RC:
English
German
Japanese
Spanish
French

Download 64-bit (x64) Windows 7 RC:
English
German
Japanese
Spanish
French

Note: Occasionally, these links download a useless 110 KB ISO with the same name. If this happens, like it did to me, just try again a few times. The ISO is 2.36 GB so it may take a few hours depending on your network speed.

I am downloading the English x86 version right at this moment. Leave any comments you may have in the comments section!

Permanently Block Dangerous Sites

Hello everyone! It's me - Creastery™ 2009, posting here again.
Today, I am going to teach you how to block sites that you do not want to visit.
Example, advertisements and also sites that have auto pop-ups.
This is available for Windows and Mac operating systems.

For Windows:

Windows XP = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
Windows 2K = C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
Windows 98\ME = C:\WINDOWS

Whichever applicable, open the file "hosts" with any editor. Eg: Notepad.
* Add the following on its own line in the hosts file, using the sites that apply to you:

You will see something like this below:

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the localhost, you can add on like this.

127.0.0.1 localhost facebook.com youtube.com blogger.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remember to leave a space between each website. After you are done, save and quit.

For Mac Operating System,
In Finder, from the Go menu, choose "Go to folder." then type "/etc/".
At the /etc/ folder window, open the "hosts" file in a text editor.
Add the following to the hosts file in its own line, using the site that applies to you:
127.0.0.1 metafilter.com flickr.com facebook.com blogger.com
That is just an example.

After you are done, save and quit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By right, if you use any of those servers above available,
you should get a "Server Not Found" error. This will be effective if you put virus websites, spam sites like www.funbox.com, all these will be blocked.

That's all folks for today! Please comment on tech as we need comments to improve on the tech guide. Don't hesitate to ask any questions. Thanks!
By - WinTechpedia™ 2009 Contributors

Microsoft Powertoys - Virtual Destop Manager

Hi all, this is Creastery™ 2009 here posting here again. Before we start, please be warned that what I am going to share is only for Windows Xp Users.

I know that I have not talk about what I have promised in my earlier posts...I need to find time to prepare...

Note to all: We merely to write this blog to share information. If you encounter problems, please consult us but we would not hold responsibility if there is any damage to your computer.

Before you continue, ask these questions to yourself..
Do you like to have more workspace on your computer?
Do you like to multi-task when using the computer?

If the answers are yes..please continue reading.
If not, take note that this post is not really suitable for you.

Well..Is that possible and without virus? YES!
With the release of Microsoft Powertoys - Virtual Destop Manager, it is made possible.

Okay...back to topic. As the title says, I am going to talk about having multiple Virtual Destops.
Note before you continue, PowerToys only work with U.S. English regional settings.

With this program, you can manage up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar!
Click here to download (This is officially made by Microsoft)

After the download, run the executable file. Then choose the complete installation and then install. After the done message, it has completed.

Now, do a right click on the taskbar (The above picture shows an example of the toolbar.)
Select the options toolbars, now click Destop Manager. Now you are all done.
Let me explain the icons on the toolbar. (By right you should see something like the picture below.)

You can see the shortform (MSVDM)--Allows you to go to configuration faster.
You see a green button -- That's for viewing all 4 stations (default)
Then you see 4 buttons with 1,2,3,4 respectively -- They are the work station's number.
You can always change the wallpaper settings by selecting MSVDM settings to configure.
Also, you can change the shortcut keys.

That's all folks for today! Please comment on tech as we need comments to improve on the tech guide. Don't hesitate to ask any questions. Thanks!
By - Freedomstar & Creastery™ 2009