If you’re like me and get really annoyed by the Sky Player channels in the new Windows 7 Media Center, you’ll be pleased to know I’ve worked out how to get rid of them.
Simply right-click on each Sky Player Channel in the TV Guide, and click Disable channel. This will remove it from the guide and stop it showing up.
I suppose the service is only really useful if a) you’re a full Sky subscriber and b) you have unlimited broadband bandwidth. I have neither so it is useless to me!
I recently stumbled across this free app, available on the App Store, which is designed to work as a remote control for Windows Media Center on Windows Vista and Windows 7.
The app works over wi-fi, so you’ll need a wi-fi connection for it to work. You’ll also need to download the Mediamote server from here and install the software.
Once it is installed, simply run the Mediamote app from your iPod Touch or iPhone, select the PC that it is installed on and then you are good to go.
Now it is up and running, you’ll see that the app has some quite concise options that allow you to control most aspects of Media Center.
When I tried this with the Windows 7 Media Center, I was very pleased at how quickly it worked and how all of the buttons worked properly.
I would recommend this to anyone who can’t afford to shed out of a new Media Center remote but would like something simple and easy to use.
I have mixed feelings about the Windows 7 Start bar – sometimes it is really helpful and sometimes it’s a pain in the backside.
Anyway, if you don’t like the new chunky Start bar without the program text, here’s how to change it back to the traditional Windows Start bar.
In case you’re unsure, take a look at the screenshot below which shows what the Properties box should look like…
There you go!
In Windows 7, there’s a brand new way of managing the look of your computer. It’s much tidier and more customizable than in Windows Vista.
To access the central menu for personalization, you can right click on the Desktop and click Personalize, and you will be presented with the following window:
You may notice that I’ve scrolled down quite a lot on the window. This is because I’ve already downloaded some themes on my computer, so it may be confusing if i show them. Anyway, moving on…
Windows 7 comes with a selection of themes to come from. If you’d like to look through what is already available, simply scroll through “Aero Themes” and click on any one you would like to see. It will automatically apply any theme you click on.
If they don’t interest you, you can try viewing some online and downloading those. Microsoft regularly creates more themes for you to download for your computer. Simply click the “Get more themes online” link.
Once you’ve found the theme you’re happy with, just click it and the theme is automatically running.
You can customize the theme if you’d like. Just use the four options at the bottom of the window – ie Desktop Background, Window Color, Sounds and Screen Saver. You can spend ages using your own backgrounds, colors, sounds and screen savers if you want!
Have fun with the great new options in Windows 7!
Well I have to say that after yesterday’s experience with Windows 7 I am slightly concerned about the security side of the new operating system.
I’m not the only one with concerns for Microsoft’s security. Sophos, a valued security organisation, has criticized Microsoft says Windows 7 is vulnerable to “8 out of 10 viruses” spreading round the world wide web at this time.
My concern isn’t really to do with viruses, but more down to anti-malware in general.
I was quite frankly astounded that a trojan had made it’s way onto my computer just 2 weeks after installing Windows 7. Now I am quite experienced with computers (not to boast about it!!) and I don’t go round downloading malicious software from the internet, so I was quite puzzled when my computer started acting up.
Windows was mysteriously minimizing Windows randomly – typical sort of thing with a trojan. It didn’t take long for me to work out something had infected my computer and Comodo Internet Security wasn’t reporting any type of threat, so I downloaded some other software and eventually dug it out.
After about half an hour of scanning, the threat was fished out of the Windows Registry and I managed to fix the issue rather easily, and the symptoms immediately stopped.
What puzzles me is how easily a trojan managed to make its way into my registry and start messing around with my computer. I thought Windows was supposed to dig out threats before they take control.
Well, whatever. But it is a concerning issue. Microsoft needs to do something about this, and fast – or Windows 7 could quickly end up with a poor reputation. And a poor reputation is the last thing Microsoft want right now – not after the outrage from Windows Vista.