Windows SteadyState

Not only does SteadyState return the PC back to its original state, but you can set it up to restrict what the user can access. You can lock down virtually every aspect of the computer from programs to websites and more. Of course you’ll need to be the administrator, and the first thing to do is install current drivers and Windows Updates. Then install programs and configure settings you want to how you want the machine to be every time it’s restored. Once everything is set up and you create different user account, you can let the public have at it. Any changes they make to the configuration will be undone just by restarting the machine. Here we take a look at SteadyState running on a Windows XP machine.

When you install SteadyState you’ll need to validate your copy of windows with Genuine Advantage. If you don’t have the WGA tool already on your machine you will be prompted to download and install it.

Add and Restrict a New User

When SteadyState starts you’ll get an overview of User Settings and Global Computer Settings. Now the fun part begins, you can make access as strict of lenient as you want.

In the first part of the SteadyState wizard, add the username, password, and picture. Notice you can create the user on the system drive or an alternate partition or drive.

In the next step you’ll start with General settings and adjust the time the user can spend on the system. Make sure to lock the profile so they can’t make permanent changes themselves.

In Windows Restrictions you can restrict them from several aspects of the OS. You can set the restrictions from High, Medium, Low, none or customize them according to your needs. You can hide certain drives from the user as well, so they can’t mess around with any data on them.

In Feature Restrictions you can lock down Internet access through IE and program menus and settings. The cool feature here is you can set the user home page and also create a Whitelist of sites they will have access to.

In the Block Programs section you determine which programs a user can access.

Windows Disk Protection helps protect system settings and data on the drive where the OS is installed. It is turned off by default and to turn it on click Protect the Hard disk.

In the next screen you can turn it on and to complete the process a restart is required.

After the restart you can choose a level of protection for the disk from always removing changes, retaining them temporarily, or allowing all changes.

You can change the cache file size if you need to free up disk space. The minimum amount of space you can use is 2GB.

Schedule Windows Updates and other program updates. You can also use your own script to schedule a time.

Getting this to work in Windows 7 is rather tricky. I installed it using compatibility mode on Windows 7 32-bit, however not everything worked. Right now I see no official support for it. They were going to include a similar feature but it was scrapped. If you still have a public XP or Vista machine however, it is still a great choice.

Conclusion

This is a great program for a public computer at a coffee shop, at a school, a library or just from keeping your young ones messing things up. It officially works with XP and Vista…Maybe some of you have gotten it to work on Windows 7? Leave a comment and let us know.

What is mDNSResponder.exe or Bonjour?

The mDNSResponder.exe process belongs to the Bonjour for Windows service, which is Apple’s “Zero Configuration Networking” application, typically installed automatically by iTunes. If you’ve ever wondered how one iTunes install can talk to another on the same local network, Bonjour is what actually does this behind the scenes.

Don’t use iTunes? You aren’t alone, and that’s not the only way that Bonjour gets installed on your computer. It’s also bundled in a whole bunch of other software, like Pidgin, Skype, and Safari, and used to connect clients together on the same network.

It’s implemented as a Windows Service, which you can see if you head into the services panel (or just type services.msc into the start menu search box). You can stop it from here anytime.

The whole problem we have is that it generally doesn’t show up in Add / Remove Programs, so you can’t get rid of it through any normal methods. Thankfully you can still remove mDNSResponder.exe if you really want to, and it will simply limit some of the functionality in the apps that might rely on it.

Important: Don’t remove Bonjour if you use iTunes to share libraries, or any other feature from an application that relies on it.

How Do I Remove It?

First, it should be noted that you can disable Bonjour without necessarily removing it—just head into the Services panel, double-click on the service, and change the Startup type to Disabled.

This is probably your best bet if you don’t really want to break anything—if you have problems you can always re-enable it.

Alright, How Do I Really Remove It?

Let’s get down to business. If you’re absolutely sure you want to remove it, it’s really pretty simple. Open up a command prompt in administrator mode (right-click and choose Run as Administrator), and then change into the installation directory, usually the following:

\Program Files\Bonjour

If you are using Vista or Windows 7 x64 edition, you’ll need to head into the Program Files (x86) folder instead. Now that you are there, type in the following command to see the options:

mDNSResponder.exe /?

Ah, so now we know what to do to remove it! Simply type in the following:

mDNSResponder.exe –remove

You’ll get a message saying that the service has been removed. (Note again that you need an Administrator mode command prompt)

You’ll want to also disable the DLL file in the directory by renaming it to something else:

ren mdnsNSP.dll mdnsNSP.blah

You should be able to actually remove that entire directory if you really want to.

Wait, How Do I Enable It Again?

Oh, so your favorite application broke? No matter, you can easily re-install the Bonjour service with the following command:

mDNSResponder.exe -install

But I Deleted It!

See, you really shouldn’t delete things until you are sure they aren’t useful anymore. That’s why renaming is a good thing. Thankfully you can simply head over to Apple’s page and install Bonjour again.

Download Bonjour for Windows

If you’ve got any geek skills at all, you probably don’t need to bother paying for an expensive security suite and a subscription. Instead, you can use the completely free Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus application, which we’ve already given our official blessing as a great solution.

I also explained the basics of how to keep your computer updated using Windows Update and third-party tools like Secunia PSI (which we’ve previously covered here).

For more, check out the article over at Lifehacker: Stop Paying for Windows Security; Microsoft’s Security Tools Are Good Enough

Blue Screen of Death

The BSOD is actually a protection mechanism that shuts down the system functions before further damage can occur. Many times the BSOD is caused by a hardware driver issue and a reboot can solve it. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case and additional troubleshooting is needed. The problem is that the computer will reboot before you can write down the error message and figure out what is wrong.

BlueScreenView

BlueScreenView is a handy utility that will display the BSOD dump file in an easy to read report so you can see what caused it. When you launch BlueScreenView it scans for minidump files (usually C:\Windows\minidump) created by the crash and displays the information. The dump files are displayed in the top pane and and in the lower pane it highlights the drivers involved that caused the crash.

Double click on the drivers to display an easy to read table showing the various properties of the error.

If you don’t want a lot of clutter you can just show the driver files involved.

Right-click on any of the dump files and send them to an HTML Report, which will be handy if you need to send the information to a technician. The ability to save the reports is also good for identifying reoccurring issues.

Another neat feature is you can have the original BSOD error be displayed.

You can also customize the settings for what you want to make visible.

It’s available in several different languages and works with XP, Vista and Windows 7. With BlueScreenView installed, you’ll no longer have to worry about frantically trying to write down the error message.

Download BlueScreenView (download link toward bottom of the page)

For more help with the BSOD check out The Geek’s article: Help Troubleshoot the Blue Screen of Death by Preventing Automatic Reboot

It was more than two years ago that we first highlighted DisplayFusion as a great way to put more than one wallpaper on each of your desktops, and since then the software has continued to improve with full support for Windows 7 taskbars and Aero.

DisplayFusion, the Free Version

Arguably the best feature in DisplayFusion is the ability to put more than one wallpaper on your each of your multiple monitors, but you can also span a single wallpaper across the entire desktop, and size them different ways to make them fit.

You can also use the built-in wallpaper browser to pull in images from Flickr or Vladstudio.

You can then browse through and find a wallpaper that you like, and assign it to the desktop.

There’s an enormous amount of hotkeys that are built right in:

And you can add buttons to the window title bar for various functions, like moving windows from one monitor to the other. (Limited to 1 button for the free version)

For instance, here I’ve added a button that moves the window to the next monitor.

It’s an extremely useful software, but the best part is that you can just download and use all these features (and more) for free. 

Pro Edition Features

The Pro edition adds more functionality—you can add more buttons to the title bars, do a little more configuring with the hotkeys (or add new hotkeys), or the most interesting feature: Add a Taskbar on each monitor!

The taskbar isn’t identical to the Windows 7 one, but it does look very similar, and even includes mouse-over hover previews. Unfortunately the previews don’t seem to do Aero Peek yet, but one can only assume that feature will be coming eventually.

The Pro edition also adds the ability to rotate between wallpaper images, either on your computer, or from Flickr or Vladstudio.

The Rules (Important!)

So you want a copy of the Pro version? We have FIVE copies to give away, and we’ll be selecting them randomly from the comments. Here’s what you have to do:

1. Grab yourself a free copy of DisplayFusion (you can get a free trial of Pro if you want, or stick with the free one).
2. Leave a comment explaining one (or more) thing you like about the software, and one thing you think could be improved. Be sure to use your real email address.
3. To cut down on accidental spam filtering, include the keyword DisplayFusion in your comment.
4. We will announce the winners in the weekly roundup, so you have a couple of days to participate.

Make sure that your comment includes something you like, and something you don’t like. If you don’t think it can be improved, say that, but if you completely hate it, maybe leaving a comment is a waste of time =)

Download DisplayFusion (Free or Pro) from binaryfortress.com

TrueCrypt

TrueCrypt is a free Open Source disk encryption utility that works with Windows, Mac, and Linux. It allows you to encrypt an entire drive, partition or flash drive and ensure no one can access the data without the right password. It provides on-the-fly encryption and after the drive is encrypted you can continue to use everything like you normally would. 

Installation is straight forward and it’s recommended to create a system restore point before installing.

Click on the Create Volume button to begin setting the disc up for encryption.

The entire process is wizard driven which makes it easy to use even for beginners. You can encrypt a virtual disk, removable drive, or an entire system drive. There are a lot more steps than what we show here, but the wizard makes all of your choices easy.

You can choose different levels of encryption. There are several types to choose from and each has its unique qualities…but for most users you will be fine with AES.

To complete the process you will need to restart the computer.

The amount of time it takes to encrypt a hard drive will vary depending on the size and speed of the system. In our test we encrypted an entire 320GB drive and it took about 4 hours.

To complete the process a restart is required.

Now anytime you start up your PC you will need to log in using the password you created in TrueCrypt.

If you’re worried about private or sensitive data being compromised, TrueCrypt is a simple and effective free option. If you have a version of Windows or other OS that doesn’t include BitLocker or another encryption feature, TrueCrypt has you covered. It’s a versatile utility as it can encrypt partitions, VHDs, Flash Drives, or entire hard drive like we showed.

Download TrueCrypt for Windows, Mac, and Linux

PC Decrapifier

PC Decrapifier requires no installation…just double-click the exe file to get things started.

The first screen introduces you to the program and gives you the opportunity to check for a new release. Click “Next” when ready…

The second screen has the EULA.

The third screen provides a warning to be careful regarding software that you may have purchased and installed yourself. You definitely do not want to accidentally remove the good stuff.

This screen asks which type of computer you are running. Choose the appropriate response…for our example we went ahead and checked “Yes”.

You will have the opportunity to create a “Restore Point” before going any further with the removal process. It is recommended that you do so before going to the next step.

You will be notified as soon as the “Restore Point” has been created…it may take a few moments depending on your individual setup. Now you are ready to check for “garbage software”. Click “Next”…

Our Windows 7 install came up clean but that is not the end of things yet. At this point you will have the opportunity to remove other software that is not in PC Decrapifier’s list yet or was added after you got your computer. Click “Next” to see what is found.

As you can see PC Decrapifier shows a list of the other software on your computer. Here you can see non-OEM installs of Google Toolbar and Musicmatch Jukebox have been selected. It is a good opportunity to remove unwanted software that is cluttering up your hard-drive. Select the particular items that you would like to have removed and click “Next”.

You will be provided with a final opportunity to cancel the removal if you are uncertain about any of your selections.

Then all that you have to do is enjoy watching that unwanted software being removed for you… You may be occasionally prompted to confirm removal of non-OEM software in uninstall windows…

All done…

In the final window you will have an opportunity to provide feedback to the software author if desired, otherwise click “Finish” to close PC Decrapifier.

What Does It Look For?

If you are curious about the list of items that PC Decrapifier looks for, there is a list (three pages) provided at the author’s website (link provided below). Here is a sample from the first page…

Conclusion

If you are looking for a good way to clean up your new (or old) computer, then PC Decrapifier can help make it as painless as possible.

Links

Download PC Decrapifier (version 2.1.0)

See the list of what PC Decrapifier removes

Using Desktop Slideshow 

To create your slideshow right-click on the desktop and click Properties.

Click on Desktop Background located at the bottom of the window.

Now hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard and select each picture you would like to show on the desktop. Then choose the amount of time to to change the pictures, you can select from 10 seconds all the way up to a full day. Click the box next to Shuffle to vary them up even more.

After you’ve enabled this setting you’ll notice it says Slide Show under Desktop Background.

If you’d rather not muck around in the properties panel to add new wallpaper, you can simply head into the folder with all of your pictures, wallpapers, or photos, select the ones you want and use “Set as desktop background” from the right-click menu.

Once you’ve enabled the desktop slideshow, if you want to skip over to the next wallpaper you can simply right-click on the desktop and then use “Next desktop background” from the menu.

This is a great way to add variety to your desktop, show off some pictures you’ve taken, or just mess around with while you’re bored at work.

Advanced System Tools

There is a very handy collection of system utilities that are included in Windows 7 and Vista that can help you troubleshoot problems that may arise. For some reason Microsoft felt the need to bury them in the OS so they’re not immediately apparent to most users. Here we take a look at accessing the diagnostic tools and briefly cover some of what’s included. 

To get to the tools type Performance Info into the search box in the Start menu and hit Enter.

In the Performance Information and Tools windows click on Advanced Tools.

Alternately you could click through to Control Panel \ All Control Panel Items \ Performance Information and Tools \ Advanced Tools…see what I mean by buried?

What’s Included

It opens up a list of different tools you can use to monitor different aspects of the system performance. From here you can do several things like defrag the hard drive, check Event Viewer, and even re-rate the Experience Index score. 

Notice there is a column for Performance issues you can click on to get additional details on how to correct the problem. In this example it shows a driver interfering with Sleep mode and that changing visual settings will improve performance.

In additional details it tells us turning off the Aero feature will improve performance. I find it odd that MS would alert you to turn off Aero as it’s a hyped feature to the interface since XP. At least they’re honest in telling you Aero can slow performance, especially with under powered video cards.

Even Viewer is a great tool used by administrators that records event errors that happen “behind the scenes” so to speak. The information in these logs are meant for admins and advanced users to help determine why certain errors are occurring. Most users won’t need to worry about this section, but you may need to access it while receiving tech support.

Resource Monitor is like the Task Manager on steroids…it’s a great tool to monitor what apps and services are using up your system’s memory, processor, disk usage, and network activity. If you find a service or program that is frozen or taking up too many resources you can close it out.

A very handy tool that is not well known about is the ability to generate a system health report.

Wait while an analysis takes place and the information is collected…

The report takes about a minute to create and then you can go through a very detailed analysis of virtually every aspect of your system.

You can also export the report to HTML format so you can share or save the report for future comparisons and troubleshooting.

If you’re experiencing problems with your Windows 7 machine, using the included advanced system tools can help a lot, without the need for installing 3rd party utilities. 

Add Videos to Start Menu (Windows 7)

There are links to several things on the Start Menu by default, but the Videos folder is not one of them. To add it right-click on the Start button and select Properties, and under the Start Menu tab click on Customize.

Now scroll down to Videos and select Display as a link and click Ok.

Videos now appears on your Start Menu.

Add Internet Search to Start Menu

A few weeks ago we showed you how to  search websites from your desktop using search connectors in Windows 7. Another neat trick is adding Internet search to the Start menu (this uses Local Group Policy Editor which is only available in Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate versions of Windows 7).

Go to Start and type in gpedit.msc into the search box.

In Local Group Policy Editor go to User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Start Menu and Taskbar.

Under Setting double click on Add Search Internet link to Start Menu.

Set it to Enabled and hit Apply and OK.

Now when you go to search from something from the Start Menu you will see the Search the Internet link.

Show More Recent Programs Without making the Start Menu huge

The program icons in the Start Menu are large by default and if you want to display more recent programs, it makes the menu much larger on the screen.

We can make the icons smaller and add more items by right-clicking on Start \ Properties and click the Customize button. Scroll down and uncheck the box next to Use large icons then click Ok. Under Start menu size increase the number of recent programs to display. 

The result is smaller icons with more being displayed in the menu without taking up extra screen real estate like in this example.

Even More Start Menu Tweaks

Here’s a list of more Start Menu tweaks that we’ve already covered,but are worth revisiting to help you take control of the menu. Most of these are for Windows 7 and Vista but a few are for XP too.

• Disable Highlighting New Programs in Windows 7, Vista, and XP
• Get the Classic Star Menu in Windows 7
• Enable Run Command on Windows 7 or Vista Start Menu
• Change the Number of Recent Items Shown on the Windows 7 and Vista Start Menu
• Change the Windows 7 or Vista Power Buttons to Shut Down/Sleep/Hibernate
• Stop Windows Update from Hijacking the Sleep/Shutdown Button
• Enable “Pin to Start Menu” for Folders in Windows Vista/XP
• Remove the Username from the Start Menu in XP

These should get you started for now, and we’ll undoubtedly have more in the future. How about you guys? Share some of your favorite Start Menu tweaks that help you manage Windows more effectively.